Moved by emotion--followed by righteous indignation

So I am back, but not trying to get KB pregnant until March--at the earliest. We find out were we are heading on February 23rd...such a powerful day...it basically determines the next several years of our lives...hmmm.

It has been less painful being not pregnant this past week, but I have been continually annoyed that all of my friends and some not-really-friends-but-facebook-acquaintances from high school and college are either pregnant or working on their families. Many have multiple children at this point, and the headline from one picture..."whoops! What a happy surprise." Bite me. --Okay---Okay...I am happy for them...but am quite jealous, and there may not be anything that can be done about that right now.

In other news, KB and I witnessed history on Tuesday night with 70,000 of Barack's closest friends in Grant Park. It was a surreal experience. I will never forget that night...for many reasons. The crowd was so calm, friendly, and moved. And my wife was SO MOVED...that she fainted. Yep. That's right...fainted. Good thing we were very close to the fence that separated us from the paramedics. And at least she waited until Obama was finished speaking. Her first words when she came to about 20 seconds later were, "Did I miss anything? Was he done speaking?" This was followed by the paramedics grabbing her and putting her in a stretcher. They tried to close the gate on me, but I really was not having any of that. They may have voted to revoke rights in 3 states that night, but Illinois was not one of them (not that we actually have many rights...although Cook County is fairly decent to the gays) and I was going wherever my wife was...even if I had to fight for it...physically. So after a 10 second confrontation, they let me through the gates. KB puked twice...a lovely wine colored substance...right next to (fortunately) the nice paramedic-man's shoes. They then wheeled us away...asked KB all sorts of questions that she was having a hard time answering...so naturally, I tried to help...they weren't having any of that.

"Excuse me miss, we need to hear it from her." Well, if you must, but my memory at this point is probably more accurate. KB has a history of fainting. And we found out later that her mother fainted on the steps of the inauguration speach for LBJ. So apparently it runs in the family. She signed a medical release so that she wouldn't have to go to the hospital...and they, of course, needed a witness...so they turned to me...who 10 minutes prior was apparently not good enough to help them--but now when they need a witness....the female paramedic asked me in a pretty snotty tone, "and what is your relation?" I snapped. She could have said it nicer and not like a complete bi*ch. "I'M HER WIFE" I bellowed. And that was that. KB is fine.

But it was a day that I will never forget...for all sorts of reasons. And sadly, for many of you, it is a day you never thought you would see, where rights that were so recently granted were once again revoked. It will happen. Change takes time...and while I never argue for passivity (and incidentally am not doing right now either)...I do like to take perspective from other struggles. The struggle for gay rights has been relatively accelerated in comparison to rights for other disenfranchised groups in this country. So I am hopeful. Maybe I am naive. But I also believed Barack would be president...and I still believe he will do great things. Time will tell. In the mean time, keep up the good fight. I am there with you...always in spirit, and as often as possible...in person.