...the day of the big march dawned bright and clear... (perhaps a
little too bright and a little too clear--clouds. fog. drizzle. All would have been nice!)
Following (2 pages worth) is my AIDS Walk photo album.
Kathleen and I drove to the Capitol and found the
registration place for walkers. Having registered and turned in my money to
Sacramento PFLAG (with $691 in pledges, I had the highest amount for PFLAG --
thank you again!), I went looking for my Breaking Barriers buddies.
Sacramento Leathermen carried the colors to the capitol
steps--where some speeches were made (thank goodness, the speeches ended before the sun
got too high!)
A section of the quilt was on display. You know,
I worked as a monitor for the quilt display in Washington, DC in 1996 and at several local
displays, and while it has always been important, it was never an emotional experience
until today. I don't know why. Maybe because I felt I was marching for Bill,
and Steve, and Michael...
Local merchants at donated coffee, bagels and
bananas. Good Bev--I had one bagel, half a banana and a cup of coffee--and counted
all the points.
The march started. I was marching with
Tommy. This was our fourth march together. The first was the SF Pride
March, two months before he was born (but he was definitely there!); the second was
in support of the gay carrier of the Olympic torch (Tommy was at the event wrapped up in
Grandma's coat to protect him from the cold weather). The third as this year's pride
march in SF, and today's march was #4. He may be one of the youngest gay activists
I know.
"I believe that this could very well be looked
back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during
the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when
the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak
up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they
have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their
children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million
children became orphans in Africa?"
– Rich Stearns, President of World Vision, US
Photo
of the Day
I have earned my AIDS walk t-shirt!
One Year Ago No Big Macs it suddenly struck me that I haven't seen one single American franchise
anywhere. No McDonalds, no Jack-in-the-Box, no Pizza Hut, no Burger King, no Blockbuster
video. This may be the last place in the western world that has not succumbed to American
marketing.
Two Years Ago It Ain't Over "I tried to talk with my junior high school aged daughter about
AIDS," a friend told me. "She says ‘it’s no big deal, Mom." Her
sexually active friends (she’s 13) see no need for using protection.
