Finding Strength of Will

Had a conversation with my 8-year-old today.  He was angry because--before I go on I need to explain how big of a deal it is when he gets angry.  His face turns down into the most amazing scowl , his forehead wrinkles, his eyes start sparking little bits of flame, and you feel waves of anger rippling from him, as if he was the epicenter of some tremendous earthquake.  To explain further, this is the child that runs through the house enacting full-scale battles in his mind and who finds peace in the intense songs from the “How to Train Your Dragon” soundtrack.  So he was angry.  The type of angry that I just mentioned.  And he was angry because he couldn't play computer.  This may sound a bit childish, which wouldn't be incorrect because he is a child, but for him it’s much more than that.  What it really meant to him is that life was just not going the way he wanted it to.  Period.  And he was ANGRY about it.  In a moment of rare...

Today I told a stranger I was gay.  It was just the right time.  It surprised me how easy it was to say, how little I cared if he knew.   “I wondered,” he replied.  “But I thought I was wrong because you were married.  So are you like Josh Weed and Ty Mansfield?” “Why did you think I was gay?”  I asked.  So far most people have been surprised. “I read people pretty well,” he answered.  I should have seen it coming at this point.  Maybe I did. Because I asked, suspiciously, “How do you know about Josh and Ty?” I saw it then.  I knew the look in his eyes.  I knew what he was feeling. We talked for quite some time.  We shared a lot--the same beliefs and religion, the same attractions.  We had similar fears and cares. Ten minutes, then fifteen.  Already we were sharing things more personal than I share with opposite attracted friends, friends I have known for many years. That is my experi...