Today is my beloved sister Gayle's birthday. She died five years ago on April 27. We celebrated her life in a memorial service on her birthday, May 5, 2006. After the service, we had a quiet gathering of friends and family. Later that evening, we had a not-so-quiet gathering, in other words, a party. Gayle loved parties, so it was fitting.
She also loved that she shared her birthday with the Mexican celebration. Of course! Another occasion for a party.
¡Viva México! ¡Viva El Cinco de Mayo!
Viva Gayle! May we meet in the kingdom!
Friends of Gayle set up The Dillenkoffer Endowment to provide scholarship grants to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered teens. If you'd like to make a donation, click the link or click on the plaque on the right sidebar.
We know that it's not easy to come out as a teenager. The consequences, at worst, can be nothing less than deadly. I greatly admire all the young men and women who have the courage to step forward and claim their identities in the face of the difficulties.
UPDATE: Here are the names of the winners this year:
$5K winner-Clay Stacy - St. Louis, MO
$3K winner-Kyla Kiefer - Perryville, MO
$1K winner-Jessie Doggendorf - Dittmer, MO
$1K winner-Hayley Gilchrist - Wichita, KS
Gayle Viva! y ella puede estar disfrutando de la fiesta eterna con Dios en estos momentos. Y puede ser bendecida, Mimi :)
ReplyDeleteExcellente, Cati. Muchas gracias, mi amiga.
ReplyDelete[No fair that an Ozzie-turn-Pommie's Espanol is better than mine. :-X]
ReplyDeleteMy friend Cathy had a birthday a couple of weeks after her passing (which was noted at the board we met through). It's a strange thing to consider the birth-day after someone's had the Birth-into-Eternity.
But we, who remain behind, have our need for comforting ritual to go on w/o them among us.
Happy Birthday, Gayle. {{{Mimi}}}
Thanks, JCF. The last half of April going on through today is a sad time of the year for me. You may find you have the same sentiments around the anniversary your friend Cathy's passing.
ReplyDeleteIf you wonder about the other members of my family, why I don't mention their anniversaries, the truth of it is that Gayle and I were the closest, and I miss her more than the others. There it is.
Mimi
ReplyDeleteGayle's here with us.It's okay to channel her and remember.
I don't know, did you tell us how that particular endowment was decided?
w/v aches
Like grief
IT, a gay friend of Gayle's had the idea and put it into motion, and her many gay and straight friends helped get the endowment going, and there it is. I don't know that her friend who originated the idea would want his name mentioned. I'd have to ask.
ReplyDeleteGrief aches, indeed. :-(