11-25-2006
Roy's memorial service was today, about 8 T-girls (dressed btw) were in attendance along with several people from his and my work places, and, of course our church. Not too shabby. Then I come home and find an email from a member of one of my online groups suggesting Roy be put on the memorial page of the website. Whether he is or not, the suggestion is very sweet. I wont speak about my thoughts because I am obviously biased and think that any "tributes" Roy can get, he is more than entitled to.
The interesting thing is who came and who didnt. None of his drag queen "friends" came, but then I didnt exactly beat the bushes over the past week looking for them...and the one phone number I had that might have served to get the word out, turned out to be disconnected when I called it. In addition, it is interesting who I heard nothing from. There are, of course many who were on trips, with family for the holidays or came to see him during his final week in the hospital. Someone here relatively locally who claimed to be great friends of both of us, not only didnt come but I have yet to hear from her. She doesnt have the excuse of not knowing because she is in not one but 2 groups online with me....plenty of opportunity to find out.
I have to conclude that once again, you know your true friends, not by their words, past or present but by their actions.
On the other hand, equally surprising was who did make it. 3 T-girls lived in the nashville area but the other 5 all traveled considerable distance to get here. One from Florida, one from Mississippi, 1 from Georgia and 2 from Iowa. In one case, it was a person that I didnt even know had that much of a relationship with Roy.
I am thankful for each and every person that attended, regardless of the distance or lack thereof that they traveled. However, I wouldnt be human, or honest if I didnt notice the difference between the verbage and the actions exhibited by certain persons within the community. Not being able to attend is one thing, people have busy lives...but to totally ignore something happening to someone that you have said was a good friend is different.