Of Marriage, Equality , and Dancing!!
So tonight had to have been one of the best nights of my life. Tonight the Marriage Equality Coalition of the Southcoast publicly thanked the local Senators and Representatives for their continued supprt in defending gay mariage. The event started off with a social and progressed with the Representatives being thanked and honored, six of the eleven made an appearance. Dinner was grand, and the dancing was fabulous.
Allow me to back track a bit. The past few months my life has changed, some for the good and some for the not so good, but thankfully more of the first than the latter. I've been excepted into a National Writing Program (one that only excepts a quarter of the appliacants and one you need to pass a writing test for), and I am doing well in it. In fact sending out my first assignemnt this week. Moved into an apartment with two lovely and divine ladies----we get along so well that they are like family. It is an absolute amazement that we did what we did. Couldn't ask for much more. Done some covert battling and lost a few friends , or people I thought were friends, but meh, I'll survive. When my presence is neither desired nor appreciated, its not worth my time nor effort to invest it those kind of relationships. Foolish I was to stay around, but naive hope is gone, cold truth is here. Let the ship you're on sink...I've left you to the cold waters. Hope you can swim, I know I can and there's a life boat waiting for me. And then there's the Marriage Equality Coalition (MEC).
MEC in and of itself, and my involvement with them has been amazing! My involvement with the group over the past few months has been great. In fact, I was on the planning comittee for tonight's event. Myself, and three other women planned, organized, wrote, called, handled ticket sales and advertising, gathered sponsors over the past two months in order pull this event off. And off it went. With over 200 people in attendance including the six state legislators, Congressman Barney Frank, and several New Bedford City Coucilmen, New Bedford City legislators the event was an absolute phenominal success. You know, I had forgotten what it felt like to belong to a group who cared about the issues and was willing to do something about it. To see an idea go from the hypothetical "what if" stages and watch it grow to fruitation is an absolute pleasure. The other three ladies and I surveyed the hall after the evening was done and we were estatic that the evening was such an overwhelming success. That our hard work and efforts over the past two months paid off to create such a memorable event was just----WOW! To feel like you belong somewhere where you can make a differance, a contribution, and have your ideas listened to and mean something creates a sense of welcome I haven't felt for some time. Even from my early involvement with the planning of the successful Light the Night Against Homophobia held this past February, MEC has become a big part fo my life. And I am ever so grateful for the friends I've made. People like Liz and her wife Bev or Andy and his husband Jeff, Heather, Ann, Jon, and countless others are just really great people and I'm lucky to have met and worked with them. They are inspiration, motivation, and fun. I'm happy to call them my friends because they, each in their own ways, bring out the best qualaties of a friendship, and they bring out the good in me as well. Something I haven't felt in awhile, and I'm glad I am now.
My older sister and her fiancee came to support me and so did Jen, Emily and her girlfriend, and a friend of theirs. It was great to be at the table with them, laughing and joking, but at the same time being there because they shared the same ideas and values as everyone else. And Jenn, also took a ton of fantastic pictures which she burned to a CD for MEC (Thanks hun--they're great). We all danced afte the ceramony was over and Jenn got some nice pictures of that too, including a few nice ones of my sister and Reede dancing (they look so cute)!!!.
The highlight was Barney Frank though. His adress was fun, informal, touching--powerful. He engaged the audience, challenged and inspired them. I had never really heard him speak in person before tonight, but I'm glad I got this oppertunity to. He was a marvelous speaker who talked about the challenges ahead, the hope we have, the victories we've won and the importance of involvement and continuing our work. I even spoke with him after his adress and he was a nice and down to earth man to talk to. Such a wonderful man and pleasure to meet and talk to, as was Senator Joan Menard and Representative Michael Rodrigues.
All in all I can't believe how well this night went (I think Jenn might be tired of hearing it as thats all ive been able to say for the past hour lol). I do know that I will become more involved in MEC as is only natural at this point and the friendships that I have will continue. They are real, not fleeting or superficial like ones I've experianced in the past---and I'm thankful for their substance.