Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Beyond tired
This last weekend was both exhilarating and exhausting. Reverend Jan, Ben and I represented our Unity church at the Tower Grove Pride Fest for set up on Friday afternoon, and were present in the booth for every minute of the festival on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon at 5 PM we disassembled everything, packed it in big tubs, and loaded three cars with our stuff. Thank goodness people from church had signed up for several hour shifts to help out. We greeted people as they walked by, gave away Ben’s book, and rainbow bracelets. Maybe the best handout was a great Unity booklet called “Worthy”. It was written by gay and lesbian ministers from lots of Unity churches around the country and is a testament to our inclusive nature.
I have a long list of things we learned this year in preparation for Pride Fest next year. The list includes such random items as dog biscuits since there were hundreds of people strolling the exhibits with their dogs. Some dogs were wearing pride colors and a few had simple costumes with rainbow themes. Most dogs were grateful to stop and have a bite of biscuit. Also on the animal parade was one cat on a leash who looked really miffed. Then there were the Furries, dressed in their costumes as various animals. Furry-dom is a thing these days and people don costumes that match their fantasy animal. The weather this weekend was in the 80’s and I can only guess at what it must be like under those big head-dresses and full body costumes.
Across the way from us were the booths for the International Institute and a Refugee organization. I spent a little time over there, especially with the man in the refugee services booth. I learned how churches can sponsor a refugee family, new to the country. The mission is to find housing before the family arrives here. Once here, the focus is on finding needed services, and employment, and basic requirements like clothing and food. I got a brochure and will bring this up at our next community services ministry meeting.
Next to us was an awesome woman who was there to help people register to vote. I’ll bet she registered 100 people before the weekend was over. She set up her tent and took it down all by herself and carted all her belongings back to her car at the end of Sunday. She had several helpers who were out in front of the booth encouraging people to register, or even to find out if they were already registered. People forget that when they move, they need to register in their new location. I watched as mostly young people were filling out the proper papers to formalize their right to vote.
I didn’t walk around the whole festival. There were more than 250 booths stretching from the Arsenal Street entrance to the Grand Avenue entrance – more than half of Tower Grove Park was taken up by the festival. I did find the booth selling event shirts and got one for Jackie. The shirt features a cartoon flamingo, a throwback memory to Jackie’s childhood during a visit to Disney World when she found herself in a small field being surrounded by a flock of pink flamingos. That’s a blog for another time, but she’ll enjoy wearing the shirt.
Today is another day for a celebration. It is Katie’s birthday and she is here from Baltimore for a few days. Katie and I have been friends since not long after our now 40-something kids were born. It is a friendship that has been full of laughter and work adventures and a joint love affair with New Mexico. Now we have grandchildren to talk about. We have shared both happiness and heartbreak. Those are two elements that combine to make a sisterhood that is precious to me. I love how the Universe brings people together. These last few days have been living proof of that power.