Of red chili peppers and ruby slippers and Lucky You

It's amazing how festive you can make a place look with a few strings of red lights. Yes, cabin 15 was simply aglow with scarlet lights, a plethora of candles, autumnal object d'arts, and the best munchies within a 10-mile radius. As mentioned in my Friday post before hi-tailin' it up to North Carolina, one group of gay parishioners tricks out its 1909 cabin to transform it into Party-Central for the weekend.

Friday night was (and usually is) low-key, but Saturday - well, that's another story. Crank up ABBA, break out the good cheese, and hold on for whatever revelations might come your way. It's always a mix of comedy and tragedy, and this year was no different. And no, I'm not going into any details, except that one of the high-points involved a respectable mother of two, several glasses of wine, and a pair of Lucky You jeans. But you have to keep it in the context that this was a church retreat, lest you picture some sort of drunken orgy. I mean, we do have our "blue" moments, but nothing God's not getting a big chuckle out of.

Yet in the middle of this hilarity was the most moving moment of the weekend. A good friend who's HIV-positive (but doesn't have AIDS) has had a lot of health problems recently. Plus, he lost his job a month ago. A couple of weeks ago, he was so violently ill that he had to drive himself to the emergency room, go through all that rigamarole, then get to the pharmacy, then drive himself home again - all by himself. But on Saturday night, he sat among many of us who love and care about him! Why should he do have to go through his emergencies alone, for goodness' sake? I told him to draw up a list of 6-8 of us - people he knew he could count on - and we'd form his emergency support team, so that he'd never have to drive his own bad self to the doctor or hospital again.

I just hate it that people (including myself) hate to call on others in time of need. We're so damned independent, shunning any sort of thing that we feel might inconvenience friends or loved ones - when those very friends and loved ones would never feel inconvenienced, just glad to lend a hand. Yes, there are folks who take advantage of other folks, but mostly that's not the case. So here's my advice (that I need to take, as well) - draw up a list of people who can act as your support team before something happens. Offer to be on their support team, as well.

Geez, there is no reason to go through tough times alone. Bring some real meaning to those chili peppers and ruby slippers, Lucky You!