pt. II

My grandmother was a very stern, hard woman. As a Wyoming woman, she was raised to be hard, tough, stern, and unapologetic. I always thought she preferred my brothers and sisters over me. The youngest of 5, I was anything but hard, tough or stern. My grandmother always had comments and feedback for my siblings. When it came to me, she just observed. Over the years I began to view her sternness with a softness. It wasn’t until I was 30 or so when I decided she was the one I wanted to come out to first. She had seen some shit in her day and I was hoping for the best. After planning an elaborate day with my 90+ year old grandmother, I worked up the courage to tell her I was gay. She was silent. I was sweating. She looked me square in the eye with a smile and said “I may be old, but I’m not stupid. The love of your life is on his way.”

My husband and I have been married for 10 years and my grandmother officiated our wedding before she passed a year later.