I am taking just a quick time out from
the celebration because if the rest of the day keeps going like we are going
now, I will be slurring me typing, punctuating sentences with *hic* and then
asking you to text me a picture of your boobs. No one wants that.
The grills have been going. Luke and
Fred have been cooking meat that has been marinating for days. We have all
kinds of ice chests with beer and pop cooled down as cold as possible. There
are all kinds of snacks. Kim set up music for us. Shala and Jennifer worked
together and have made all kinds of games. They have us set up to play
Cornhole. It is this game where you throw bean bags onto a board with a hole in
it. Like horseshoes but the goal is to sink your bean bags in the hole. I don’t
think I laughed harder than when Nolan was beaten by Hunter in a game and Nolan
proclaimed Hunter to be a much better cornholer than he was.
See, all the young guys have this
quiet homophobia about Nolan. I think that is just an age thing. When I was
eighteen, if someone called me gay, I would have been all like, “Nu-uh! Shut
up. I’ve had sex with your mom!” When you get older and all that stuff doesn’t
seem to matter very much and you begin to care less.
I am sure that things have been said
in the past about me and Luke and how close we are together. Whatever. I don’t
have the abs, fashion sense, or flamboyancy to be gay. See, but Nolan plays it
perfectly. He uses self-deprecating humor and he doesn’t run from it. He puts
his name on it. He is not going to be standing at some rally chanting witty
rhyming slogans. He has actually told me he hates those flamers because he
feels it just fuels the stereotype. But he knows Hunter can be uncomfortable
with the whole thing. So when Nolan proclaimed him to be the best cornholer in
the group, Hunter was so embarrassed he just went back to drinking. But Nolan
is not malicious at all. He knows when and when not to poke the bear.
So this is a good time. I am taking
just a little break between meals. I know that Lance and Kasondra have brought
up the guns. We will probably do a little target practice later on. Yes,
because beer and firearms always go great together. I see no problems coming
from that at all.
It is a great Memorial Day Weekend so
far. If you are out there and you are reading this, then you are either living
in an area that is not tainted yet by the greatest plague in human history. Or
you are holed up somewhere and riding this thing out like the rest of us. So to
you all I can say is… Endure.
Ride it out. You have made it this
far. Make it a little farther. I raise my glass to you and offer you this
toast: May the best of your past be the worst of your future. That was my
birthday wish I would put on friends’ Facebook walls when it was their
birthday. No doubt, we are in the darkness. But the dawn is coming. Wait for
that sunrise.
Fight on, brothers. Fight on. God
bless.
