They Ain't Much, But I Love 'Em Anyway

The Whole God-Famn Damily

There's really only two things I remember most about the movie It's My Party. One, it's fucking depressing as hell and I weeped for days. Two, there's a line by Margaret Cho in the movie that still hangs with me.

"When you're gay, sometimes you get to choose your family. And he chose us."

For whatever reasons, sometimes we just aren't close to our blood relatives, and sometimes we're fortunate enough to have people in our lives to fill the void.

Now, I'm on pretty good terms with my family, but I'm not out to them, and it's seems like there's oceans of difference between us. And so those guys (and one girl) are my family here in Memphis. And we smooth over the rough edges as family is apt to do, and they get on my nerves sometimes, and we also generate more than our fair share of drama.

Every Sunday night for the past two months, we get together. We gather for margaritas at Cafe Ole. We dish. We watch Desperate Housewives. And yes, we each have a character we identify with most on the show. You see, I'm Lynette. The Artist is Bree VandeCamp. JonJon is Susan. HotAss is Edie. And we eat fabulous desserts. The Pink Lady is still upset she didn't get to get off her drunk ass to see the angel food cake in the shape of the sand castle, surrounded by "dunes" of brown sugar.

We aren't bound by blood. But we are bound tight.

And boy do we love our theme parties. Christmas was a Christmas Village party, and each of us dressed as our favorite "village" person. The Artist and The Chef were the village candy makers, passing out candy canes. Valentine's Day was a chocolate party. We had a birthday party not too long ago with a Cinco de Mayo theme. Memorial Day, as a salute to the troops, was a camouflage party. A birthday party on March 21 was a toga party in homage to the Roman rites of spring. For my and HotAss's birthday, it was a black party.

They're good guys. And I am grateful to have them in my life. And I am especially grateful they have chosen me to be in their family.

So...HotAss, T-man, Artist & Chef, Dusty & Bobo, JonJon, Wanda, Sha-Nay-Nay, Peter, Pink Lady...I love you. Thanks for being my friend, and thanks for being my new family.

[Hey Virginia and Baby Gyrl, don't think I've forgotten about you or written you out of the family will. I love you just the same. As Diana Ross once said, someday we'll be together.]