Drag Queens

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

My family has a lot going on this week, and all of it is colored with intensity, and excitement, and a whirling mix of emotion and nostalgia, and also with a smidge of worry and concern. I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed. So, what I do on times like these? I lean on my friends to indulge my idiosyncrasies. I lean on my friends. My friends know me and they get me. Last night, right at dinner time, I texted some of my closest friends this meme:

“Your Drag Queen name is your Grandmother’s first name and the last dessert/sweet you ate. Go.”

Answers:

Dorothy Cookie. Marietta Glazed Popcorn. Mariam Coconut Macadamia Cookie. Lessie Krispie Treat. Florence Jellybean. Mary Kisses. (suddenly interspersed with, “Honey, are you okay?”) Brigitte Pistachio Frozen Yogurt. (“Honey, when’s the graduation?”) Ethel Brownie. Mildred Milkyway. (“Wow friend, this is way too much at once.’) Cecilia Carrot Cake. Anna Rainbow Cookie. (“Good luck, friend, enjoy. One day at a time.”) Martha Strawberry Cake. (“Hang in there, girl.”) Jessie Chocolate Chips. Nina Fruit Snacks. Sarah Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers. (“Best wishes, friend, I know that you will handle it all with grace.”) Geraldine Cheesecake.

I love my friends. When I try to play everything off as easy, and funny, and silly, because I am always trying to prove that I am just so damn “upbeat, clever and chill”, my friends play along, and yet at the same time, they hold me, and they love me, and they know me, and they hug me from afar. And they are with me. And then, I suddenly know that everything is going to be okay, mostly because I’ve got all of my girls in my back pocket. I know that the next time a “crisis” comes along, and I end up adeptly choosing to handle the situation, by astutely asking my dearest friends some off-the-wall, stupid, meaningless questions, they will answer me, as if it is a major priority in their lives. And they will laugh at my responses. And I will laugh at, and I will appreciate their responses. And all at the same time, my friends will shroud me in their love. And they will comfort me, and they will make me feel like I can handle anything. Treasure your truest friends, ladies, because they are your treasure. They’ll get you through it all, like no others can. I love you, my friends. You know who you are. Thank you for indulging me. Thank you for making me feel important enough to answer my “drag queen name request” at the most inconvenient of times, and at the same time, being so intuitively able to read between the lines. That’s love, my friends, and I feel it.