Graduation Day

This post is entirely random - but I was scanning some old pictures tonight and I think this one is a classic. My whole group of high school friends together for the last time, in 1982. Left to right, that's Jim Lipocky, Joe Marth, Yours Truly, Kevin Byram, Eric Bruckner and Ben Gulyas. I still keep in touch with Kevin and Ben. Saw a couple of the other guys at our 20 year reunion a few years back.

Joe came out a few years ago and brought his partner to the reunion. God, I was proud of him for doing that - the balls to show up at your high school reunion as a gay guy with a boyfriend - in small town Ohio. Wow. My girlfriend at the time was a bit of a fag hag, so she was in heaven.

Now that I think about it, it's really funny - I am really, really dense sometimes. I mentioned my lack of comprehension during the liquor store shoplifting last week, but this one took the cake. Joe had been the nerdiest of us nerds back then, and when he introduced the guy sitting next to him as his partner, I literally thought, "God, he is still such a dork - he brought his business partner with him"!

About 5 minutes later it dawned on me that the only business they were doing together was still illegal in some southern states. And suddenly, he became the coolest of my friends. I'm hanging with the ballsy gay guy tonight - take that high school oppressors! Like anyone cared.... God bless you, Crestwood Class of '82...