Love is in the Details

[mrdreamjeans]

Thanks to my family and friends, I’ve celebrated Christmas every day between December 15 and December 26 this year. There is a true spirit of the holiday season and I’ve been fortunate to find it in shared dinners, loving phone conversations, smiling faces in photos, laughter with my co-workers, unexpected gifts and cherished moments spent with people who I care for and who care for me. I am determined to imprint this joyous Christmas in my memory, capture it and the happy feelings it’s engendered forever.

I’m in the Carlyle Suites in Washington, DC. It’s a boutique hotel, much higher on style and function than comfort, but very nice. The hotel seems much like one of those old boarding houses for actors this week. Most of the guests are from “Evita”, “Wicked”, “Les Miserables” and “Betty Rules”. “Evita” opens at the Warner tomorrow night; “Wicked” is playing the Kennedy Center; “Les Miz” is running at the National and “Damn Yankees” is at the Arena Stage.

I just met the woman who will play “Glinda” this week in the laundry room. (The regular actress is on vacation.) Turns out she’s married to an actor from the last tour of “Evita”. I went out a couple of hours ago to “Show Tunes” night at JRs and ran into Steve. I may be able to score house seats for the Wednesday matinee. Fingers crossed! They are beyond sold out:)

My family Christmas was special as I’ve already mentioned. Yesterday, I had dinner with my dear friends Henry and Geoffrey in Arlington. Henry outdid himself preparing a standing rib roast, hash brown potatoes, parsnips, several steamed veggies, salad and a pecan pie and ice cream. They even had a Christmas stocking filled with presents for me. (Including a gift card to Barnes and Noble, MicroTouch Personal Groomer, Gay Accent Mouthspray for the discerning mouth, Bacon Strips Adhesive Bandages and a Kazoo! :) We headed to the movies after, planning to see “King Kong”; it was sold out, so we instead saw “Brokeback Mountain”.

I won’t say much about Brokeback, except to tell you it is extraordinary, powerful and sad. It has stayed with me ... The story, particularly in the 1970s, was similar to my own emerging feelings. I came out knowing only married men with families who desired me because I didn’t “read” Gay. I witnessed violence and was the victim of it. One of these days, I may share the story. Yes, I did cry ... and I was numb for the rest of the evening. The performances were pitch-perfect ... I know all too well the cowboy closet.

Today on Boxing Day, Henry, Geoff and I went out for Mexican food and saw “Pride & Prejudice”. It was another film that will deserve attention and accolades at Oscar time. Keira Knightley is a revelation and the work of Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and others is a joy. I highly recommend seeing this adaptation.

Amongst the big celebrations and scrumptious dinners, were the quiet moments with friends, either in person or by phone. I’ve already journaled about my wonderful time with the New York LJers. I also spoke with rossbear and gotmoof as well as David and Stan in San Francisco as they opened their presents, Casey in Houston (and then SF too) and Bill in New York. Stan, to my delight, has put up 14 Christmas trees of varying themes including a tree with all bear ornaments and one with a Golden Retriever theme.

I’ve lost count of conversations with my folks, sister and brother in the past three days. But, I think I should be forgiven ... How else can I keep up with knowing every single gift my family got each other ... hear the gossip, laughter and stories of the holiday unless there is frequent communication? Plus, there is a bonus ... my friends and family and I tell each other how much we care ... how much we mean to one another each time we say goodbye ...

I’ve found that love is in the details ... and you can’t say, “I love you” too many times when you mean it.