Friday 8 March 2013

Our Mardi Gras Experience

Thank you to all of my readers who enjoyed and commented on Gay Pride or Mum Pride. and all the Tweets of support and encouragement.

As promised, herewith is the follow up post.

So you know what to expect, let me just say, I will not be commenting on the events that took place involving Police after Mardi Gras in this post, however, it is highly possible there will be another post that covers that!

I left off in the above post where I had dropped MJ to catch the train to the city ... Fade to memory shot like in the movies.

On screen: Mum and younger sibling pulling away in the car from the train station ... worried look on Mum's face, younger sibling "Can we go to MacDonald's NOW?"
Narration: In the spirit of supporting my son and acknowledging his maturity and the trust I have in him, I decided to refrain from texting him every 5 minutes to be sure he was OK and off we went to Maccas.

A few hours later: Vision of me checking my phone with surprised look on my face and a big smile.
Narration: I was very relieved when I received a text from MJ letting me know they had arrived safely and had eaten!

Getting on with the day: More foggy memory vision (in slow motion) of Mother and younger sibling playing in the backyard with bubbles.
Narration: I then got on with my afternoon, enthusiastically keeping LJ entertained as a method of distracting myself.

Enough with the theatrics, life is theatrical enough! (not to mention how difficult that is to write).

I hurried to feed LJ, bath him and get him into bed (after of course reading him a book, or 10!), he was also noticing his brother's absence with many "W" questions causing a significant distraction to sleep.

The minute he was asleep, I took to Twitter, Facebook, MSM, anything ... to simply try to get some idea of how things were going at Mardi Gras. BECAUSE IT WAS NOT TELEVISED!!! Pretty sure there is a Petition in order over that!

I managed to get a bit of a running commentary and was soon aware that Mardi Gras 2013 had come to an end. Pondering my previous commitment to trust in MJ and allow him the level of autonomy he needed to be liberated as a Young Gay Man at his first Mardi Gras, I fought the urge to text him to see he was OK.

It paid off!  I received a text informing me that they were all safe and on their way to get some food. I waited a full 30 seconds before I replied with "That's good ... How was it?"

Back came the reply I had hoped for ... "It was beyond fabulous! Such an amazing vibe!"

Not long after the appetites had been suppressed, I received another text to say they would all be on the train home soon.

That was not the end of the night for us. Because we live so far from the city, MJ was staying the night with his friends whose parents had made room for 4 more teenagers in their home (Thank You!)

I received a few more unsolicited text messages with status updates and finally the one I always like to get when MJ is not at home, "Good night. Sweet Dreams. Love you. xo"

And so I slept.

Happy Ending: When MJ arrived home the next day, we talked for hours. I have to say just one more time how proud I am of him. 

The insights he gained from this experience, the fun he was able to have, the way he responsibly did what was required of him to ensure his safety and how he embraces all people without prejudice or judgement just makes me look forward to what he will accomplish in this world.


We could all take a leaf out of that book.
The NOH8 Campaign is a charitable organisation whose mission is to promote marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest.  http://www.noh8campaign.com/
This is not a sponsored post


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