Family is an interesting animal. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's such an inescapable part of life. My dad and I had one conversation on religion and "gayness" (I hate the term "homosexuality," because I can only hear it in seven drawn-out syllables spoken by a southern pastor); he made it very clear that he doesn't agree with my choices, but recognizes that I'm an adult, and also realizes that making us sleep in separate rooms won't gain anyone anything. Thankfully, while he's adamantly against the gayness, he believes (correctly) that the fundamentalist church puts way too high an emphasis on bashing it. (Since the majority of the population is heterosexual, he'd rather they put their energy into premarital sex and adultery, which is where we disagree.)
But religious conversations aside, it was nice to sit and talk to two of my sisters-in-law about natural childbirth, Montessori education, and other interests we have in common. V was in on the conversation, and it didn't seem like they were only able to think the whole time, "omg gay sex!" Whereas with one of my other brothers and sisters-in-law, you could clearly see that that was the only thing on their minds anytime we were in the room. Sigh.
One thing that neither V nor I had factored into our emotional assessment of the weekend was the feeling of being surrounded by straight couples who expect everyone else to also fall in love with the opposite sex. Some of our closest friends are straight (or mostly so), but they accept us wholeheartedly. With my family, and the church we visited with them (whole 'nother post), the atmosphere was one we hadn't been around in quite awhile. We were an aberration, with all the negative connotations that word can carry. But at least we were hugged, and fed, and left with a desire to return. And that, for us and family, is a good trip.
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