Dave Is Gay? Gulp!

Yesterday was the dinner with Dave's coworkers that I spoke about and basically it went quite well. I have to say though it was a little amusing to see the look on some people's faces as Dave introduced me and it suddenly dawned on them why Dave never had a girlfriend. There were basically three reactions, the first was the friendly look as if to say "oh you little brat Dave, have you ever been keeping a big secret from me"! These people I would catch later giving Dave a playful smile or wink. The second reaction was sort of a startled "oh... uh... (Dave is with a guy) n... nice to meet you." You could see they were caught off guard and did not know what to do or say at first but suddenly wanted to show me they were okay with it. The third was more of an extended hand and as doing so, suddenly realizing what it meant and then hurrying off before they were seen talking to a gay couple. One man would not come over at all, and he kept pretending not to see Dave and I. The funny thing about this is, Dave told me once he thinks a manager of his is gay, this man is married with children, this is also the man who would not come over to say hello, this man I have never met before but I picked out of the crowd in a second, I guessed which one he was because my gaydar was going off with flashing red lights and bells ringing. I guess he was afraid we might run up to him and start screaming "you are one of us, you are one of us!"

It was also nice to experience the reaction from many of the people who already know Dave is gay. They would come to me and hug me, making me feel welcomed. Many were happy to finally meet the man who Dave spoke about. Some came up to me and told me I was very lucky, they said that I had a really sweet guy and I have to agree with them. I also learned a good lesson that you can never judge a person on their reaction. Some times a young person would be the one to scurry away and then on the other side of things, an elderly person would come up and tell me they were glad that Dave finally met someone. I would not be telling the whole truth if I did not say it felt very awkward most of the time, thankfully I was often rescued by some of Dave's friends I had met months earlier. Awkward, however this is just another step taken on my gay journey and I know I will have to face many more. I think the best comment came at the end of the night from an older woman who means the world to Dave. She is much older than us, near retirement age actually and very, very religious, she only recently found out Dave is gay and he had always been worried how she would react. When it came time to leave and we were saying good bye, she took my hand and said it was wonderful to meet me, I was not sure she had the full grasp as to Dave and my relationship until she firmly grabbed hold of Dave's hands and said "there is a good guy, you take good care of him Dave, do you hear me, look after him well"! That gives a person who is struggling to come out, such peace inside that is just too hard to describe, I could only smile ear to ear for hours after.