Late-Night Thoughts
Maurice Sendak came out yesterday, at the age of eighty. First off, I am really, really awed by Sendak's bravery. He is one of my favorite writers and artists ever.
What has me thinking the most, though, is one of the reasons he kept his sexual orientation a secret for so long:
“I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,” Mr. Sendak added. He lived with Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents: “All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.”
That's utterly heartbreaking, and it makes me all the more grateful for my wonderful parents, and for how tremendously accepting and supportive they've been, particularly my not-remotely-traditional relationships. I don't tell them enough how much their pride and support mean to me, or how incredible and rare they are as people and as parents.
THANK YOU.
What has me thinking the most, though, is one of the reasons he kept his sexual orientation a secret for so long:
“I just didn’t think it was anybody’s business,” Mr. Sendak added. He lived with Eugene Glynn, a psychoanalyst, for 50 years before Dr. Glynn’s death in May 2007. He never told his parents: “All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.”
That's utterly heartbreaking, and it makes me all the more grateful for my wonderful parents, and for how tremendously accepting and supportive they've been, particularly my not-remotely-traditional relationships. I don't tell them enough how much their pride and support mean to me, or how incredible and rare they are as people and as parents.
THANK YOU.