twenty-something

I was raised by two wonderful women -- my mother and my grandmother -- for the first ten years of my life. So you'd think that Mother's Day would be a big deal in my family, but, really, it isn't. Never really has been.

Today, as I lie in bed on this lazy Sunday morning, I feel like it should be a big deal and I really wish I was home to celebrate it with my true parents, my mom and my grammy. I spoke with them on the phone earlier this morning and I ached to be near them, to be going with them to the breakfast they were headed to. I miss them -- which is quite unusual, ask any of my friends. Usually I am rather distant when it comes to my family.

Obviously, the events of recent months have affected me, and my relationship with my family. But as sad as some of these events have been, I'm actually kind of grateful for them, as they have drawn my ambivalent ass closer to my mother.

So Happy Mother's Day. Here's a tribute to three of my favorite women in the world -- my mom, my gram, and my sister (who is not a mother, and will hopefully not become one anytime soon). They don't read 20sum, but I love them anyway.

(My mother -- the glory of the 80s. This is my favorite picture of her, with her Madonna hair, big black sunglasses, and popped pink collar.)

(My grandmother, at my high school graduation. I'm tall. She's proud of her gay grandson.)

(Marissa, age 5, playing dress-up with her big brother. She's supposed to be a Spice Girl here. Girl Power!)

Now most days
I spend like a child
Who's afraid of ghosts in the night
I know there ain't nothing out there
But I'm still afraid to turn on the light

- Amos Lee, Arms of a Woman