Our Vermont Wedding
When I mentioned that Tony and I were engaged to be married last December, I also told people we hadn't officially made any plans because our goal, after twenty-one years together, and after sharing the first half of our lives together, was to keep the wedding very simple and quiet. But then a few unplanned events started to unfold, one thing lead to another, and there are now a few significant details about our wedding I've been waiting to share for the right time that include a movie, a supreme court justice, and a very gracious woman at Phineas Swann Inn.
We started making plans to get married at
Phineas Swann, an Inn in Vermont, earlier this month. We did this because we've been all over New England but never Vermont, it's pet friendly and we're bringing both dogs, and also because of so much that has happened with gay marriage took place in Vermont. That last part was planned, and we did want that historical touch because that's important to us both. But the rest was a big surprise to both of us. A couple of weeks ago we received a call from the owner of Phineas Swann and she informed us that an indie filmmaker,
Jeff Kaufman, from Los Angeles was doing
a documentary called
The State of Marriage on same sex marriage and he was interested in filming our wedding. And then she told us that
Beth Robinson, Vermont Supreme Court Justice, would be there and she would actually be performing the ceremony for us. Of course the owner of Phineas Swann was very gracious and she wanted to make sure this was all okay with us, and that it wouldn't interfere with our original plans. And it was her graciousness, and our strong feelings about legal same sex marriage, that helped us make the decision to agree to do everything they were asking.
So that's about it for now. We're heading to Vermont early next week and the ceremony will take place at eleven o'clock on Tuesday at Phineas Swann Inn. I wish I knew how to do those streaming feeds so family, readers, and online friends could watch it live, but I'm just not good enough at those things to pull it off. But I will post photos and other things I think people and blog readers might enjoy, here on the blog and on social media. I'll have tablets and iPhones with me the entire time and I'm not planning to go blank next week. In fact, we originally planned to keep this all so simple we're heading back the next day because of work obligations.
I'll also keep updating about the film,
The State of Marriage, in the coming months. I have no idea what part of the film we'll be in, or how we'll come off. But Kaufman has a good reputation for doing what he does, and we're both looking forward to meeting him.
Side note: the only regret will be returning to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where we live and pay taxes, and where gay marriage still is not considered legal.
T. J. Klune Post
I have to admit that it takes a lot to gut me sometimes. But I've become very emotionally involved in what's been happening with M/M authors, TJ Klune and Eric Arvin. The post I'm linking to now, written by Klune, will explain everything to those who don't know what I'm talking about right now.
I know we all go through serious times in life, and everyone gets his or her own share of pain and sorrow. But the health crisis with Klune and Arvin hit so close to home for me, and for what I experienced
with Tony's health crisis in 2007, I actually do feel gutted each time I read something else. I also feel a strong sense of pride when I see how so many have supported Klune and Arvin during this time. I don't think of this as fandom. I think this goes deeper and shows how strong online relationships can be, and how they continue to evolve and grow.
Here's an excerpt from TJ Klune's most recent post.
As I write this, I am sitting in a waiting room of a respiratory hospital in
Richmond, Virginia. It’s 11 in the morning on a rainy Friday. It’s cold
outside. We’re supposed to get snow later. I forgot to grab my heavy coat when
I packed my bag this time. I accidentally left my gloves at the hotel.
Forgetting little things is normal for me these days, as are the purple lines
under my eyes from lack of sleep that don’t ever go away. Normal is the leaner
face I see in the mirror from the weight I’ve lost. Normal is the Kleenex I keep
in my pocket to wipe away the tears that too come easy so he doesn’t see them
when I sit beside his bed.
You can read more here.
Free Gay Excerpt
I know this isn't the longest excerpt I've ever posted, but it's my latest novel in the Glendora Hill series and I often do these things for selfish reasons. I like seeing how they look on the blog, and in these raw versions (this is unedited) I often find a lot of inspiration that's very hard to explain.
It's so new I'm only about 25,000 words into it. I don't even have a title, or a blurb. But I will say this: I see a lot of Christians slamming gays all the time and never taking into consideration that there are gay Christians. I wanted to put that in a book and show them.
When Kelly Barrett
mapped out the route he would take from Buffalo, Wyoming to Glendora Hill,
Texas, he chose one that would take him through Arizona so he could see the
Grand Canyon. He planned this without fanfare or misguided expectations. He’d
always dreamed of going there and knew he might not get the opportunity again
for a long time.
Kelly had taken a new position as ranch manager for a
small ranch in a town set deep in Texas Hill Country called Glendora Hill. Although
he’d loved working as a ranch manager in Buffalo, Wyoming, Kelly’s partner of
five years, Dudley Long, had accepted the position as Pastor of a new church
between Glendora Hill and Austin, Texas, and Kelly couldn’t hold him back. For
a gay minister it was the opportunity of a lifetime. This new church was one of
the most progressive in the country and they welcomed LGBTI people with wide
open arms to the point where they’d specifically gone searching for a gay
pastor.
The job offer came fast and Dudley couldn’t refuse
because the church in Wyoming where he’d been pastor had closed six months
earlier for lack of funds. When Dudley heard mention a gay couple in Glendora
Hill, Texas were looking for a new ranch manager, it sounded too good to be
true. The ranch in Texas was only twenty miles from the church where Dudley
would be working. It was such a poor congregation there were no funds for
housing and Kelly and Dudley would have to find a home of their own at their
own expense. So when Kelly discovered the ranch manager position in Glendora
Hill came with a great salary, full benefits, and included housing at the ranch,
he aggressively went after the job without thinking twice. It was one of the
few times in Kelly’s life when things actually fell into place without having
to struggle too hard.
As he pulled out of a gas station not far from the Grand
Canyon, he frowned when he glanced into the rear view mirror and saw a guy on a
motorcycle tailgating his truck. He was wearing a lime green and black helmet
and Kelly couldn’t see his face. It was eight in the morning and there weren’t
many cars on the road. Kelly glanced at the speedometer and frowned again when
he saw he was doing the posted speed limit. He also wondered what was going
through the guy on the motorcycle’s mind, and how he could take so much for
granted. The guy seemed to trust that Kelly would not stop short or make any
sudden moves, which made no sense at all for anyone who knew the basic
principles of defensive driving. The motorcycle resembled a toy compared to the
huge black pick-up truck Kelly was driving.
The guy on the motorcycle followed him to the entrance of
the Grand Canyon and then disappeared when Kelly pulled up to pay the admission
fee. When he entered the park and spent the day walking and taking photos, he
forgot all about the guy on the motorcycle. But as he pulled out of the park
around five o’clock that afternoon he took a deep breath and sighed when he saw
another motorcycle not far behind.
He knew it was the same motorcycle from earlier that day
because he spotted the lime green and black helmet again. But just to be certain
he pulled over to the shoulder and made a phone call to Dudley in Texas to let
him know where he was. As he pulled his phone out of his pocket the motorcycle
passed him without fanfare, he got a closer look at the helmet, and he took
another deep breath and sighed aloud. Then he dialed Dudley’s number and waited
for him to answer.
“Hey,” Dudley said, on the fourth ring. “Where are you?”
“I’m just leaving the Grand
Canyon now,” Kelly said. “It was spectacular. I wish I could have spent a few
days here. I wish you could have been here. You would have loved it.”
“We’ll make that a plan,” Dudley said. “As soon as we get
settled here, that will be our first vacation.”
“I’d like that,” Kelly said. “You’d be amazed at how many
private little trails I saw. We can have so much fun behind a rock.”
Dudley laughed and said, “I’ll bet we could.”
Kelly smiled because Dudley’s reaction sounded fake,
which meant he probably wasn’t alone. “Who’s there with you?”
“Ah, well,” Dudley said. “I’m here with one of the church
women and we’re discussing a new youth committee.”
Kelly laughed. “I see. I guess you can’t talk about
having hot sex with me in trails now, or about how I want you to pull my pants
down behind a rock.”
“I think you’re right about that,” Dudley said,
pretending to laugh a little too loudly.
Sometimes it bothered Kelly that he couldn’t act and
react like other gay men he knew. It was bad enough that he was a cowboy and he
had to deal with certain restrictions of his own, let alone the restrictions he
faced all the time being married to a minister. As the husband of a minister he
was expected to be prim and proper. He couldn’t tell dirty jokes, or swear in
public. He couldn’t make campy gestures, allow his wrist to go limp, or talk
about gay culture in depth. Even though Dudley’s church was highly progressive,
it was still a church and people expected the pastor and his partner to behave
a certain way. But he was used to it and he didn’t let it bother him often.
“I’ll let you go then,” Kelly said. “I can see you’re
busy. I’m driving through Arizona tonight and I’m not stopping until I reach
New Mexico. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Be safe,” Dudley said. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Kelly said.
He stopped for something to eat at a fast food drive
through about an hour later. He wanted to reach Silver City, New Mexico before
midnight without wasting a moment. He’d planned ahead and made a reservation at
a motel earlier that morning. Now that he’d seen the Grand Canyon and he’d
gotten that out of his system the long road trip had lost a good deal of its
excitement and all he wanted to do now was get to Texas, start his new job, and
be with his husband.
Though he’d planned for seven hours on the road, he
pulled into the motel in Silver City around one in the morning and yawned when
he noticed the front office was open twenty-four hours. The motel complex was a
low-slung one story affair designed in an L-shape, with beige stucco exterior
walls, a roof with missing Terra Cotta tiles, and a vacancy sign at the
entrance that hung slightly to the right from old rusty chains. He noticed a
swimming pool in the center of the complex, with plastic tables and chairs he’d
seen in low-end discount stores. The pool area was surrounded by a rusted chain
link fence that reminded him of an old junkyard back in Wyoming. And the only
landscaping he noticed between brown weeds and thorny grey shrubs were those
stereotypical cactus plants that didn’t even look real.
He yawned again and pulled up to the front office to
check in for the night. It wasn’t the kind of place he would have stayed in if
he’d been traveling with Dudley. But he figured because he was alone he might
as well save money, sleep in the cheapest places possible, and save up for a
few new things he wanted to buy in Glendora Hill. The ranch manager’s cottage
on the ranch where he would be working came furnished, and Dudley was already
living there and he said he loved the way it looked. But Kelly had always been
picky and he had very specific tastes. He knew, without even seeing the
cottage, he would want to make changes there and those changes would cost
money.
The clerk in the main office reminded Kelly of a
character in an old film, but not just one specific character. She was more of
a combination of several. This woman had to be in her seventies, with long
straight blond hair, parted dead center with a long chunky braid that trailed
down her back. She wore too much pancake make-up in the most garish pale shade
just shy of clown white, dark red lipstick, and two heavy dots of blue eye
shadow. He dress was a flouncy cotton deal, with tiny pink roses and vines of
ivy, a matching belt at the waist she’d cinched to the point of discomfort, and
a lace collar. If she hadn’t been so deadpan in tone and lackluster in
expression Kelly would have thought he’d run into the reincarnation of Baby
Jane Hudson from the old Bette Davis classic, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. But when she refused to even look
up and make direct eye contact with him once, she reminded him more of Norman
Bates in Psycho.
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