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my lesbian cousin?
Apr. 10th, 2012 04:18 pmI don't have any first cousins, but I think I've just found out that a cousin of my mother's generation is this woman whose obit I saw in the Lesbian Connection. Same weird last name, family-lookin' face, but still a long shot, I thought, until I just came across, googling about her, another familiar family name in association with her.
She seems to have been the daughter of an uncle of my mother's with whom at least some of the rest of the family was no longer in touch. He moved to D.C. before we moved to Maryland, but we never got in touch with him once we were there. I gather (upon brief snooping) he worked as a meteorologist for the gov. But Shirley, his daughter, ended up in Colorado with a partner of 30 years and a big life in queer chorus--- from the obit: "An elder among us, Shirley was a founding force for the women's choral community in Colorado. She helped launch the Denver Women's Chorus, has supported Boulder's Sound Circle as fan and friend since its inception, and in recent years she sang with Resonance, Women's Chorus of Boulder. The women's music community was a primary facet of Shirley's relationships, and a nurturing ground in her life's journey."
I remember my mom once suggesting (disapprovingly) that a guy in a family photo album who was a cousin of hers was thought to be gay. This is somethin', though, this Shirley. And, hell, Uncle Ruben lasted until 2010. Why didn't I ever try to get in touch with him?
I contemplate writing Shirley's partner, if I can figure out where to write.
Wow. I got some kind of shiver when I saw that nugget confirming the hunch from the picture. Some stirring in my internal physiog. This is a sign of emotion, yes? (I've felt so pre-kindergarten about emotion today thus far, until that.) (As in maybe somebody coach me in that chart of basic facial expressions.)
She seems to have been the daughter of an uncle of my mother's with whom at least some of the rest of the family was no longer in touch. He moved to D.C. before we moved to Maryland, but we never got in touch with him once we were there. I gather (upon brief snooping) he worked as a meteorologist for the gov. But Shirley, his daughter, ended up in Colorado with a partner of 30 years and a big life in queer chorus--- from the obit: "An elder among us, Shirley was a founding force for the women's choral community in Colorado. She helped launch the Denver Women's Chorus, has supported Boulder's Sound Circle as fan and friend since its inception, and in recent years she sang with Resonance, Women's Chorus of Boulder. The women's music community was a primary facet of Shirley's relationships, and a nurturing ground in her life's journey."
I remember my mom once suggesting (disapprovingly) that a guy in a family photo album who was a cousin of hers was thought to be gay. This is somethin', though, this Shirley. And, hell, Uncle Ruben lasted until 2010. Why didn't I ever try to get in touch with him?
I contemplate writing Shirley's partner, if I can figure out where to write.
Wow. I got some kind of shiver when I saw that nugget confirming the hunch from the picture. Some stirring in my internal physiog. This is a sign of emotion, yes? (I've felt so pre-kindergarten about emotion today thus far, until that.) (As in maybe somebody coach me in that chart of basic facial expressions.)
