Pride

This past weekend San Francisco was decorated by even more rainbow flags than usual, as it was the annual gay pride celebration. The celebration is always at the end of June, just after Maisy's birthday, and I found myself remembering last year. They day of the 2010 pride parade was sunny and beautiful; Maisy was not quite a week old. As I sat in bed breastfeeding our new baby, I listened to KFOG's Sunday morning Acoustic Sunrise program. In honor of the pride celebration, they played a beautiful a cappella version of a lullaby called "Everything Possible". The chorus is my favorite part:


You can be anybody you want to be
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done


That Sunday a year ago, I sat with my newborn baby and cried (a lot of) happy tears. Dave came in to the room and was alarmed! Of course I was a sleep-deprived jumble of hormones, but I was also filled with love and hope for my child and her future. And I was glad to be raising her in a place where diversity is welcomed and celebrated.

One of the many lovely gifts Maisy received for her first birthday was a rainbow-striped dress from my mom. Maisy wore a rainbow yesterday, the day of the Pride Parade. She also ate an apple, which is perhaps not worthy of a parade, but was nonetheless very exciting for Dave and me. Most of our excitement stemmed from the fact that she would periodically stop eating and make the sign for "apple" and smile. [We use some American Sign Language with her. It is amazing!] She was so pleased with herself that she could communicate about what she was enjoying. As for Dave and me, I daresay it made us proud.