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Opinion
A light at the end of my busy tunnel
Friday, April 18, 2014
As I tucked Declan into bed earlier this week he looked up at me with wide eyes and proceeded to pull another rabbit out of his magic hat of questions. I am convinced it is no coincidence his last minute dialogue tends to delay his bedtime, however, his questions are typically far too creative to ignore.
"What do you say when a man, kisses another man?" he asked. I scrambled through the evening's activities leading up to that moment in my head, in an effort to understand what had prompted his curiosity. I was coming up with nothing as I finished tucking him in, other than the good night kiss I had just given him.
My confusion must have shown as he didn't waste any time offering additional details.
"When a man kisses a woman, they say the groom may now kiss the bride. If there are two men they say the groom may now kiss the what?" he added.
"You know...I don't know," I replied, "I guess they would say the groom may now kiss the groom."
Declan was not satisfied with my answer so I attempted to explain the relative newness of gay marriage, admittedly, not exactly my area of expertise.
"We don't really have terminology for when two men get married, it has mostly been between a man and a woman and was kinda looked upon as a bad thing in the past," I replied.
It was Declan's turn to become confused and it showed, likely in a similar fashion, as he wrinkled his brow and looked at me with a sideways smirk, indicating he was uncertain of my sincerity.
"Why would it be looked upon as a bad thing?" Declan finally blurted out.
His response immediately made me think of comments I heard earlier in the day, pertaining to today's younger generations being more public with their lives and having less of the prejudices many of my generation grew up with.
I ran my hand through his hair as a wave of pride and optimism for the future washed over me.
"You know...I just don't know," I repeated with a smile, before pecking his forehead with one last goodnight kiss, giving him a quick hug and quietly leaving the room.