21406: Thank you for making my day. I hope I can continue to be the exemplar you see.2) In case you missed it earlier -- I made a friends-locked post with full details on our wedding reception (Sunday, Feb. 26, Penn Valley, CA). I'm mentioning it here for two reasons: One, please RSVP at that post if you are hoping to attend (accurate head count will help us keep folks entertained and fed). Two, I am such a monumental ditz about my friends list that I'm sure I have longtime acquaintances who are interested in coming but can't see the post. If you're in that category, please mail me @ baxildragon at gmail for details. (Nonny, I'm looking at you. ;)) I don't mean to exclude anyone, but the planning has just been such a headache I'm lucky I got advance notice at all.
3) I am happy to report that Valentine's Day seems to have taken on greater meaning to me as an anniversary than it ever did as a celebration of partnership. Yesterday, Kady and I spent a quiet day doing normal things (and eating heart-shaped pizza);
meanwhile, it was two years ago to the day that we were privileged to witness San Francisco's groundbreaking gay marriages firsthand.The scene was a happy, vibrant chaos. Hundreds of couples -- over 4,000 by the time a higher law managed to clamp down on the city some days later -- stood in a line snaking around City Hall, braving light rain and a tiny handful of protesters in order to get official recognition of their love. Hundreds of others -- couples, individuals, groups, gay, straight -- cheered every pair that emerged gripping their marriage license. Media wandered everywhere. Bystanders passed out Valentine's Day candy and flowers to the people waiting in line. (Kady and I, who were at the time merely romantically-involved coworkers, were two of them.)
It was as pure a celebration of love as I've ever been privileged to witness. As Kady said at the time, "There's something so simplistic about the desire to join with another person legally and in front of witnesses that it's hard to believe anyone would deny it. Most of the couples we saw had been together for a good length of time and were clearly part of loving families with everything that implies. The first couple to get a marriage license were a pair of ladies who had been together 51 years - that's a marriage in any book and deserves to be recognized. We should all be so lucky." And judging by the fact that people from all over the country and beyond were sending flowers, clearly that sentiment connected with a wider audience.
(For bonus ironic amusement, she finished that post by stating, "[I] ultimately decided the world isn't ready for a Kady/Baxil merger.")Anyway, if Valentine's Day is meant to stand for anything, that was it right there. Selfless love. Crowds of people (and even Frank Chu) coming together for the mere purpose of cheering and celebrating the recognition of that feeling.
It still sticks with me today as one of the happiest holidays I've ever spent.
reminiscent