Patrick and I were guests at the Fall Fête of Lawrence Hall, an annual fundraiser for the various therapeutic services that the organization provides to kids in care. The night was a big success for a handful of reasons:
1) Patrick dressed up in his finest to sell raffle tickets. To this point, I sent him after Toni Preckwinkle (the current president of the Cook County board of commissioners) after she walked past us. It seemed an easy mark.
2) Patrick sang in front of a big group. He had worried hell out of me earlier in the day, on asking me to print the lyrics to the song he had chosen to sing. He had not been practicing so still hadn't memorized them. He sang (very well) from the printed lyrics.
3) I gave a little speech to a very large crowd. This also worried hell out of me. I modified a short essay written earlier this year and shared with LH and DCFS. The original essay focussed on domestic events, so its usefulness to a large general audience wouldn't fit. I edited it for emphasis on the therapeutic services (personal, music) that Patrick received and that were on display at the evening's event.
4) James and I went on our first public date together as a couple. He and I began seeing each other in late August. We met at Hopleaf (a pub in Andersonville), and hit it off really well. Our dates had been largely the go-to-restaurant type until recently when we began to do stuff around the city. He humored me by going to El Grito de Dolores downtown, an event of Mexican national identity that I have attended for years. Later, we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to check out (with Patrick) their Autumn Fest. Finally, last weekend we attended the Lawrence Hall fundraiser. It had been a very long time since I last introduced someone as my boyfriend to others. It felt great. More than once, attendees at the fundraiser asked James about being a father. He handled it with grace, referring people back to me.
Here is a picture of me, Patrick, and Linda. She was Patrick's mentor for the time he lived at Lawrence Hall and has become a good family friend. As I wrote earlier, the night was a big success.
1) Patrick dressed up in his finest to sell raffle tickets. To this point, I sent him after Toni Preckwinkle (the current president of the Cook County board of commissioners) after she walked past us. It seemed an easy mark.
2) Patrick sang in front of a big group. He had worried hell out of me earlier in the day, on asking me to print the lyrics to the song he had chosen to sing. He had not been practicing so still hadn't memorized them. He sang (very well) from the printed lyrics.
3) I gave a little speech to a very large crowd. This also worried hell out of me. I modified a short essay written earlier this year and shared with LH and DCFS. The original essay focussed on domestic events, so its usefulness to a large general audience wouldn't fit. I edited it for emphasis on the therapeutic services (personal, music) that Patrick received and that were on display at the evening's event.
4) James and I went on our first public date together as a couple. He and I began seeing each other in late August. We met at Hopleaf (a pub in Andersonville), and hit it off really well. Our dates had been largely the go-to-restaurant type until recently when we began to do stuff around the city. He humored me by going to El Grito de Dolores downtown, an event of Mexican national identity that I have attended for years. Later, we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to check out (with Patrick) their Autumn Fest. Finally, last weekend we attended the Lawrence Hall fundraiser. It had been a very long time since I last introduced someone as my boyfriend to others. It felt great. More than once, attendees at the fundraiser asked James about being a father. He handled it with grace, referring people back to me.
Here is a picture of me, Patrick, and Linda. She was Patrick's mentor for the time he lived at Lawrence Hall and has become a good family friend. As I wrote earlier, the night was a big success.
