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.