2008 A Very Lucky Boy
posted by on November 4 at 13:38 PM
We’re getting lots of email about the election—but this letter, sent by a reader in California, made me cry.
Four years ago my husband and I adopted a nine-year-old boy. He’d been taken from his biological family when he was three and shuttled through six different foster homes in six years. The three of us have worked very hard to create our family. Our son has added to our lives in ways we could never have imagined. We love him very much.This year our son, who is now thirteen, came out to us. Our son is gay. We are fine with this.
The amazing thing about our boy is that he goes to school every day and lives his life true to himself. He’s a happy child. He writes poetry. He skips. He’s a track star. He excels at algebra. He loves the Stylistics. He has a blinding smile. Most of the kids at his school love him. But some of the boys call him “faggot.” Yesterday our usually sunny boy, all five-feet-four inches of him, came home staring at the ground, visibly upset. Some of the boys at school were taunting him with cries of Yes on 8, the California proposition aimed at eliminating the right to marry for those who want to marry another of the same gender. The boys were punished by the school, but the damage was done.
Who are these followers of Jesus Christ who would tell my son, taken from his family at three, and homeless until he was nine, that he cannot marry and have a family of his own?
Today my thirteen-year-old son joined me in the voting booth. As I voted for Obama my son put his hand on top of mine. He did the same thing when I voted no on Proposition 8. He was late for school, but I can’t think of a better reason.
Miss Poppy
Adult Christianity
Goddammit, Dan, now you made ME cry. Thanks for posting that.
~Pi, posting from a red state, hoping for the blues
so many of these voting stories and messages from other countries are getting to me. i'll already be a blubbery mess by the time i get to the showbox.
phew, so emotional!
He'll grow up stronger and wiser than those who taunt him. I've been there. I know. His parents love will see him through.
That made me tear up.
I hope that boy knows how many are fighting for him.
Between voting against Prop 8, watching Judy sing Battle Hymn, and now reading this, I'm a big teary mess. Thanks Dan. Our truth is marching on.
Yeah, yeah, it's touching at all - but what the fuck is up with all this "hand on top of mine" crapola today? Just because it's a nice moment doesn't mean you have to lower it to the level of a friggin' Hallmark Movie Presentation.
I hope Miss Poppy explains to her son that those evil pricks were probably self-loathing closet cases and what exactly their future as a "Junior Larry Craig" or an "EX-gay" will be.
Can we start marking all the tear inducing posts with NSFW? People are starting to think my cat died or something.
@8 No joke. I usually don't take the whole "this made me cry" thing seriously because I'm a heartless robot, but dammit if I haven't cried at my desk not only for the first time ever, but also the second, third, and fourth times.
Yep...the tears kind of came on...but being at work usually keeps them at bay.
Crying again.
Dang.
Here's what the deal is about the "child's hand on top of my hand when I vote" thing: our children are witnesses to our righteous action (voting), and joining hands to engage in something this powerful is a kinetic connection. This is a moment when they are NOT listening to iPods, staring at video games, or otherwise profoundly engaged from us. They will know that we did the right thing today, and it empowers them to do the right thing when their time comes. As it will.
I too am a balling mess. Driving home from work last night I start crying just thinking about today. Now everytime I read one of these stories I start crying again! Glad to see I'm not alone in my hyper emotional state.
Thanks for the post Dan... I don't know how you come across all of these great morsels of teary goodness, but I'm glad you do...
@12 - Oh. OK, I get it. Pure insanity. Sorry. I should have just thought it through a little more, I guess. My bad.
If somebody had said "kinetic connection" a little earlier, I probably would have nailed it then.
I cried, as well. Lucky boy, lucky parents, lucky family. Hope their luck rubs off on us at the polls!
"Yeah, yeah, it's touching at all - but what the fuck is up with all this "hand on top of mine" crapola today?"
Idiot.
I wish like hell I'd have had an experience like that with my parents when I was thirteen. I spent my teenage years terrified of what my parents would think of me if they knew I was gay. They were completely silent on the issue, leaving me to guess. And based on the behavior of assholes in our community, I guessed wrong. Sadly, I didn't know that for another decade.
I finally came out, and I get along great with my parents now. But my teenage years would have been vastly happier if I'd have known that my parents supported me like Miss Poppy supports her adopted son.
Fuck those little bastards that tormented him at school. But he's very lucky to have such a loving parent as Miss Poppy.
@12 Thanks Sarah. Well said.
Miss Poppy- I want you to know that I fully support your son's right to marry the man he loves and create a family. All couples who desire this should have it- it is an inalienable right. I also want you to know that I am a Christian.
@2 & @8
Me too. I've been crying each time since the first story I read this morning. This is overwhelming.
RP @17 - YOUR story made me cry, too.
Yes, Miss Poppy's son is Very lucky...
RP @17 - YOUR story made me cry, too.
Yes, Miss Poppy's son is Very lucky...