Sunday, September 28, 2008

Joe

Sunday scribblings prompt is -wedding
Of course my own came to mind, but then I started thinking of the other fun weddings I've attended. I thought WAY back, and remembered an old friend who I haven't thought of in such a long time. I decided to write about my old friend Joe's wedding.
I had met Joe in beauty school, He was an old soul in every sense of the word. He introduced me to his unusual shoes that were handmade by being molded to his feet and hand sewn and he introduced me to His vast collection of herbal teas. He told me wonderful stories of his families history. He told me of the traumatic, heart-breaking death of his beloved Mamma. He was from a very old fashioned Italian family. As extremely close as he was to his relatives, He was that uncomfortable in telling them about his sexual orientation. Joe was in love with another friend of mine.. Robert. They had a strong relationship but so sadly could not display it freely for fear of estrangement from their families. When Joe's grandmother became ill, he very much wanted to make her dream come true. She dreamed of him finding a wife and settling down. For that reason, financial reasons and various others, Joe and his gay friend Lisa, decided they would tie the knot!
It is unfortunate but Back in 1979, Homosexuals were even more unfairly discriminated against than they are today. Joe and Lisa requested that all their gay friends refrain from dancing together and displaying any signs of affection.
When my boyfriend and I arrived at our table, We were seated with and greeted by TEN, VERY handsome, well dressed men. I don't always have such confidence in my appearance, but that particular night, I felt I looked really attractive, yet I noticed all the men at the table were checking out... My attractive date! We instantly bonded with Joe's friends and had so much fun and lot's of laughs. Like me, They all loved dancing, but keeping with Joe's request they Knew they couldn't dance with one another. SO... being the only female at the table... for each song played, I was invited to dance with a different partner. We had a ball and I never sat down!
The band was fabulous and the brides girlfriend who was a famous singer ( i would rather not mention her name) also got up and belted out some absolutely beautiful ballads.
After his joyous wedding I didn't get to see much of Joe.
You know how that happens? You call and he is busy and he says "we need to get together" and then he calls but You are crazy busy. A year later I got married. Joe was there with Robert. He came over to me and asked if he could sing a song. He bravely got up with the band and with teary eyes, he sang a moving rendition of
'Mamma" to My mom and My mother in-law, who he had invited on stage with him. He truly touched my heart. I remember how I had thought that his mamma was proudly watching him.

I don't remember how we lost touch, but I am so sad to say we did. I'm thinking now, of his kind heart and our years of friendship and I wonder where his life has led him. I hope he has found a way to be true to who he is and I pray he is doing well.

**After writing this I tried finding Joe on white pages.com. There are SO many people with the same name in my area, but you know what?
I feel I want to try dialing all those number, till I find my old Friend and try to catch up on too too many lost years.

9 comments:

Granny Smith said...

Lucy dear, I am SO glad you posted this. It bears out my own experiences with my gay friends and is further validation of the urgency of my post aimed at Californians: Vote NO on Prop 8! I hope you can reestablish contact with your friends.

Anonymous said...

Lucy, I too hope you make contact with your friend. Friendships like that are too precious to lose.

Anonymous said...

why are all the cute ones gay or taken? LOL
I would, call them all! I found a friend from high school by doing that and we keep in touch now through facebook :)

anthonynorth said...

I'd say get on the phone. Great post.

Queen-Size funny bone said...

things really haven't changed that much. the respect for families would still be respected today. My gay friends pretend most of their lives just to make everyone else happy. it is sad. find that friend...

Forgetfulone said...

Such a well-told story, and also so sad, that he felt he had to marry his "girl" friend to make his grandmother happy. I hope he found true happiness with Robert.

And you should try to find him! Try facebook or myspace, too. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Linda Jacobs said...

Amazing the magic that writing can cause! Go for it!

Maree Jones said...

I love the details in this piece - especially the part about the shoes being handmade onto his feet!

TC said...

I really hope that you manage to catch back up with him. I hate it when friendships fall by the wayside... for whatever reason. It's always sad.