Comments:
Some of you may recall that in a previous note, Steve and I celebrated 10 years of relationship on 02/27/2011. This is an easy date to remember, because our first date was to watch the Fat Tuesday Riot in Pioneer Square in Seattle. The next day was the Nisqually Earthquake.
Well, on December 6, 2012, we were the first same-sex couple to get a marriage license in Lewis County. On February 2, 2013, ours was the first same-sex marriage in a church in Lewis County. This is small news compared to the well publicized events surrounding Referendum 74 in King County, but it was big enough to make the front page of the local newspaper here! It was a tight squeeze into the Centralia First United Methodist Church that day, when about 150 more people showed for our service than had RSVP'd! We were blessed to have longtime friends and family members be candle lighters for us at the beginning of our ceremony – the many candles were to symbolize those whom we love who were not able to attend. Steve planned and wrote the service, plus he and his daughter Cydnie pre-recorded much of the music. My mother, Betty at age 90, walked me down the aisle in my kilt. Steve's kids, Cydnie and Sean walked him down the aisle (in his new Utilikilt) - and stood up for us. A former pastor of ours read the scripture; 1 John 4:7-21. The brave pastor of our congregation performed the service. There were tears, laughter and applause at all of the appropriate moments – and we served communion to everyone who wanted; Jews, Catholics, Atheists and Wiccans joined us at The Lord's Table in our quiet little Methodist church in our quiet and very conservative Southwest Washington town. We were piped out of the sanctuary by a bagpiper with a tune called “The Clumsy Lover!”
And so, in spite of setbacks in our personal economy, health and legal areas, we continue to live an active and fulfilling life in Centralia - and things are getting better on all those fronts. I am now serving as a board member of the Centralia Downtown Association, Steve is on the Historic Preservation Commission and we are quite active in our church's life. Last weekend we put on 'Chicken Bingo' at the Historical Museum's Pioneer Pie Social!
My job as a Workfirst Case Manager continues to be interesting – because every family has different issues. Jobs are tough to find in Lewis County, so I am on the board of a workshop developed in our office to show folks that they have options to get off of Welfare, that are likely previously unexplored. One of the tools used in this workshop is Lou Tice's 'Positive Thought Patterns.' Somehow it seems different than when it was presented to us by Coach Merrill during PE class in my mid-teens!
Steve's salon business keeps him hopping. He has developed a line of skin care products to cross market with his cosmetics. This new line will be launching soon.
Little did I think, when I graduated from Kennedy High School in1979, that I my life would be lived in a rural town (What? I'm from Seward Park!), lunching with the mayor and county commissioners (What? I dislike politics), tossing chickens onto a plywood sheet with numbers (What? I just happened to already have it? Don't chickens carry Salmonella?) and taking bets on where they would poop (What? gambling?). Add to that, married to some guy who I met at a department store (What?), with stepkids (What? They are turning out rather nicely), living in a big old house (What? Not quite a mansion and I'm a minimalist?) and renting rooms (What? No privacy? We think it is part of our life's ministry) to supplement our salary from working at the Welfare Office (where I have a bowl of condoms on my desk. What?), and income from a hair salon and make-up company – but What a Life it is!
