Rulers and Droolers

I have no idea how many trips I've made back home to Tennessee in the 26 years since I moved away, but I absolutely know that some of those trips I will never ever forget. Like the final month of my sweet Daddy's life ... I will forever remember that trip. Sitting by his bed in the hospital, holding his hand, reading to him ... though he didn't recognize me and probably didn't even know I or anyone else was there with him, I wouldn't trade that month I had with Daddy for anything. Thankfully, my three kiddos made the trip with me ... kids have a way of bringing light into the darkest of nights. I remember one evening when my niece and I took all the kids to see the movie Homeward Bound ... a cute and fun film about two dogs and a cat who set out on the grandest of all adventures to find their way back home. For months after seeing the movie, my kids repeated one certain line from the film over and over and over again ... "Cats rule and dogs drool!" And of course, they put their own spins on the line ... "Boys rule and girls drool!" or "Girls rule and boys drool!" Sometimes I really miss those days, you know ... sometimes I really, really do ... the days of my three kiddos going at each other over who was the ruler and who was the drooler.

I've thought a lot about the "Cats rule and dogs drool" line since yesterday when a friend told me something her daughter had shared with her that had happened on her bus ride home from school ... something that involved another variation of the rulers and droolers line. My friend recounted the story of a kid who, in her daughter's words, is "so funny and cool and everybody loves him" ... a kid who announced loudly on the bus, "Gays rule and straights drool!" As she talked about the acceptance the other kids have for the kiddo who made the announcement, her eyes sparkled with delight when she said, "Isn't that awesome, Terrie? My kids don't care that their friend is gay ... to them, he's just a cool kid who is their friend. To them, him being gay is no big deal ... it doesn't matter to them at all." And when she told me about the lighthearted banter as to whether straights or gays were indeed the ones who rule, I was seriously concerned that her heart was going to pop right out of her chest from all the love and pride she has for her children.

Now before some of you pound me with messages ... and yes, you know exactly what kind of messages I mean ... I'd like you to consider something. What that young man said on the bus is about so much more than him being not only aware but accepting of his sexuality ... it's about so very, very much more. It's about my friend building the kind of relationship with her daughter that allows her to be comfortable in talking with her mom about any subject. It's about the fact that not one kid on that bus made fun of the young man or demonstrated any shred of hate or judgment toward him. It's about him having the confidence and bravery and courage to be himself in front of his friends, his family and the world.

I'd like to leave you with a thought this evening ... actually it's a question rather than a thought, I suppose. For those of you who were immediately shaking your heads in disgust when you read what the young man said (and trust me, I know that some of you were and still are), would you have had the same reaction if his words had been, "Being dead rules and being gay drools"? And for those of you who are now shaking your heads and saying that's a ridiculous question, let me tell you once again that I receive emails on a daily basis from kids and adults alike telling me how hard it is for them to overcome the thought that dying would be better than being gay.

The truth is that a lot of us could surely learn some things from all the kids who were on the bus that day ... like how to be kind and generous, how to love unconditionally, how to see hearts first and foremost, how to be honest and open and real and transparent and love ourselves as the people God created us to be. Go ahead and ponder on this post for a while ... go ahead and ponder on it for a good long while because the truth ... well ... the truth is that it deserves a good long pondering ... a good long pondering indeed.