Remembering a Very Special Time

At around this time last year my older brother Chris and members of his family visited me in the Twin Cities from London, where they were then living. (They’ve subsequently moved back to Australia.)

Recently by brother and I have become “friends” on Facebook. Looking through his Facebook photo albums I discovered a few images from our time together last year that I had not seen before. I share them with you now.

Opening image: Atop Barn Bluff in Red Wing, MN - August 5, 2008. From left: Chris, Brendan, Cathie, Mitchell, me, and Liam.

For more photos of our time in Red Wing, click here.



Above: With my three nephews (from left) Liam, Mitchell, and Brendan. (Due to work commitments my eldest nephew Ryan didn’t accompany his family to the U.S.) We’re pictured at the home of my friend Molly, who with our mutual friend Brigid, hosted a wonderful pool party for my family and I on July 31, 2008.



Above: Taking in the views of Red Wing with Mitchell, Brendan, and my sister-in-law Cathie - August 5, 2008.



Above: With Mitchell and Brendan in Red Wing.



Above: Brendan canoeing in Minneapolis - August 3, 2009. For more images, click here.



Above: Mitchell and Brendan in the backyard of my friends Ken and Carol - July 29, 2008. For more images, click here.



Above: At Lake Calhourn in Minneapolis - August 3, 2009.


I think the following words written this time last year are worth repeating:

One reason why I think its important to share such personal photos on The Wild Reed is that images like these help to counter and dispel the fallacies that some religious folks (and, yes, that includes some Catholic folks) have about gay people: fallacies that say that gay people are “anti-family”; that we’re out to destroy the family and civilization; that we have insatiable sexual appetites and are consumed with the need to experience as much promiscuous and impersonal sex as we can. Crap like that.

The reality is I have a family. I’m part of a family. I love my family, and all its members love me – just as I am.

And do know what? That love inspires me to be the best person I can be – in all aspects of my life.

And do you know something else? I’ve discerned and experienced more life-giving truth in that love than in any document on homosexuality written to date by the Vatican.

I have absolutely no doubt that Vatican pronouncements will one day reflect the love and reality of gay people’s lives and relationships. And it is the love that shines through these photos I share today, and through the lives, families, and relationships of gay people around the world, that is facilitating this transformation.

And that’s good and beautiful news, wouldn’t you say?


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Out and About - July 2008
An Afternoon at the Science Museum
Pool Party
Climbing Barn Bluff
Good Times, Happy Memories