Pride

The last colors of the sunset lingered in the sky.  My eyes followed the trail of the long ribbon that twirls through the area s my body followed.  Enveloped in a community, I danced as we moved through the streets of Birmingham.  The crowd noise was deafening.  A smile hadn't left my face since we stepped off.  I took in all the diversity.  None of us dance to quite the same beat, yet we meld together in the most beautiful way.

I looked over at my friend.  Joy radiated from her face too.  She wasn't planning on coming because she struggles to find her car at the end in the dark since we don't start and end at the same place.  I made a deal with her - she pick me up and I would take responsibility for getting her back to her car.  She jumped at the offer and so together we experienced the joy, the love, the energy, the community.

Then out of nowhere, a college student I sing with ran through the parade and gave me a huge hug before continuing on to greet someone else.  And a block later, a friend on the sidelines ran up to me for a hug.

About halfway through the parade another woman from my church turned to me and said, "You have to come back for this next year."  Maybe I will.  My friend even reminded me she has an extra bedroom and I could come stay with her, go to the parade together, and then I could sing with the choir the next morning before heading back to Atlanta.

I have never felt so free as I did last night or as I did in the 2025 Pride Parade.  I think we all long for a space where we feel comfortable enough to dance as if no one were watching, a space where we don't worry about what people think, a space where we can just be.

One thing that makes this move to Atlanta so exciting for me is that when I walk down the streets of Midtown, I get closer to that feeling than I ever have in a city before.  It's one thing to get one night a year like a Pride Parade.  What would it be like to have a little bit of that every time I walked out my front door?

Happy Pride Month!