A Perfect Life

            I want a family; I have this idea about the future, my life and my relationships with others.

            I’ll be sitting on the couch, much like any other day when I have a second to relax; normally with a glass of ice cold green tea in my hand reading the news online. I got home early from work because my crazy boss lets me do whatever I want. Work is amazing and I love what I do, but my family is even better so I rush home everyday for them. I decided to surprise my husband with a home made dinner from scratch, we both work and our child is in day care during the day. We think it’s good for him to interact with kids his own age. Earlier in the day I had picked my son/daughter up from daycare/school and we rushed off to the super market. We pretended the car was a spaceship and made funny noises the whole way to the store. Today is special because we have plenty of time to goof off. We had fun playing with the little toys that you get from the quarter machines. We even got matching unicorn tattoos, the kind you put on with warm water! The two of us, now “too cool for school” picked up all the groceries we needed. We found some great flowers for dad and smelled every one of them. We got white and yellow daises because they live for a long while. My son/daughter is proud of the flower we picked out together and is arranging them while I sip my green tea; this is going to be such a fun surprise. We have fun cleaning the house and listen to all types of music. We also made brownies together and I let him/her lick the bowl because, Well! That’s what I always liked to do when I was a kid!

            We put on some cartoons, like Penguins of Madagascar. My daughter, “Natalie” or son “Patrick,” had a fun day at school and can’t wait to tell me about it. Just then Dad (I’m called Papa btw), gets home. He’s exhausted, yet surprised and thrilled that the house is sparkling, much like the famous scene when Sally Field gets home in Mrs. Doubtfire. I go greet him and he pulls me in for a long romantic kiss and we laugh as our child yells, “yay! Did you like the surprise!? Did you! Did you! Did you!!” He gets his spastic nature from me. Right at the end of the kiss I suddenly yell, “Casserole!” I run to the kitchen, frightful that I’ve burnt dinner which I’ve already done on a couple occasions. I open the white cabinets, some completely white and a couple that have glass inserts so you can display things. I find a mitten and pull the casserole out of fired hot oven and on to by sparkling black granite countertops. Did I mention I had a large farm house sink? The casserole came out just in time, a lil crispy on the edges, but we like it that way. While it cools down a bit, I pop the veggies in the steamer. Our child helps get the plates and sneaks our dog some food without me noticing.

We live in a house, next to other people with houses not too far from a lake or where there are lots of trees. Our neighbors know us and drop by regularly. We don’t worry about money but we don’t always have a lot of it. At dinner we swap stories about our day. We even talk about world issues and politics from time to time. Culture is important to our family and we may not agree on everything, but we respect each other always. After dinner we play board games and then it’s time for bed. We all read a bed-time story or even a story at bath-time. We brush our teeth together every night and make growling toothpaste foam faces at each other, running about the house like crazy people. Ahh… we have fun! At bed time we tuck our little one in and never let a night go by without them knowing how much we love them. We may even have a funny way we say goodnight to each other.

My other half and I sneak off to our bedroom on the opposite end of our send floor house. We worry together for our family and listen to ideas and thoughts from each other. We’re supportive and encouraging, and we’re so in love it’s hard for us to keep our hands off of one another. We make sure the door is locked and throw it down like lovers do. The next day is a Friday and I have the day off. I help my husband get ready for work but he decides to take a sick day instead. We all go to the zoo or a movie or a park and have a picnic. We races boats, play fetch with our old dog, and fly a kite. I let them play together for a while so I can get a chance to read a book or write a little. The dog is next to me panting in my face. I really didn’t even want a dog to begin with but my child’s eyes persuaded me otherwise. I’m a sap like that and give in every once in a while. My child picked out an old dog instead… he’s a lot like me and I’ve taught him that we all play a small but significant role in the world. It’s important to do good things whenever you can. So my child picked out an older dog so they wouldn’t put it down instead of the puppy that has a better chance of finding a home. We wound up with a 7yr old mutt that lays around pretty much 24/7.

It’s our life, we don’t think about it being a “Gay Family.” We are who we are and we’re thankful to have each other. We have ups and downs just like everyone else; but these past two days we were a memory… a perfect memory I just haven’t had yet.