The Opposite of Abandonment

It was an early fall evening when the light lingered in the promise of chilly weather. My brother and I escaped the schoolbus and ran down the hill to our family home as fast as we could. I was in 3rd grade so 7 years old. My 5-year-old brother was in 1st grade. The house […]

Remember the Aunties on #LGBTQFamiliesDay

This is my first #LGBTQFamiliesDay as a married lady. My wife, Laura, and I tied the knot on Groundhog’s Day earlier in 2021 after nearly 18 years of togetherness. You can read our story here if you are interested. It was a very cool political lesbian blogger wedding, but wildly different than anything I could […]

My 2x Great Grandmas Speak To Me On Mother’s Day

Irish American Pittsburgh

While I can say they had their moments, it is more accurate to state that my mother and grandmothers were not cut out to have or raise children. Mostly, this is not their fault but the consequence of being surrounded by traumatized, abusive men and cold parents of their own. Mother’s Day like too many […]

Day One, Year Two: My Obligatory Anniversary Covid-19 Anniversary Post

Covid-19 Anniversary

On this day in 2020, Laura worked her final full day at her office with the City of Pittsburgh, came home and began to set up her home workspace in our kitchen. She’s in that workspace right now, working. This is what we consider our demarcation of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. This is day 1, […]

16-Year-Old Trans Male and Older Sibling Shot to Death by Mother in Western Pennsylvania

Jasmine Jeffrey Bright

Another tragedy involving a trans neighbor unfolded Monday, February 22 in Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania when a 48-year-old mother shot both of her young adult children in the head, killing them at the scene inside the family home. 22-year-old Jasmine Cannady and younger brother, 16-year-old Jeffery ‘JJ’ Bright died. JJ has been repeatedly misgendered and […]

Gay Respectability and How Our Families Reacted to Our Wedding

lesbian wedding

Today marks our two week wedding anniversary. We had originally planned to celebrate with Mexican food and a Henry Louis Gates marathon, but the frigid temps make it patently unfair to ask any human being to go out into the weather to deliver food. So it is soup from the pantry and HLG marathon. Married […]

Both of my parents have COVID-19

Last week, my brother contacted me to let me know. He had authorized requesting hospice for them. They live in an assisted living facility here in Pittsburgh. They have a myriad of underlying conditions, ravages of lives hard lived and filled with tragedies. Of course, they end up both contracting an international pandemic causing virus. […]

My Pandemic Pittsburgh Wedding Cookie Table

Pittsburgh Cookie Table Pandemic

Our wedding cookie table looks a little different than at a typical wedding. I have to admit this one was a little tough – having a cookie table at my wedding reception was one of the things I genuinely look forward to experiencing. While I didn’t attend a lot of weddings growing up, cookie tables […]

One more wedding photo

The Vulnerability of a Wedding Registry

Lesbian Wedding Registry

You would think a wedding registry would be the fun part of wedding planning, but oh no no no no. We had no intention of putting together a registry – we aren’t establisheding a new household, we aren’t young, it’s a pandemic, etc. It was hard enough figuring out the backyard logistics of serving apple […]