Hello All -- Today I came out to my 80+ something Mom & Dad. A month or two ago I thought that I might never tell them, after all they're not in the direct family life anymore now that they're retired and less able to travel. Then a friend I came out to told me that if I didn't tell them before they died, I would be sorry. Gave it much thought, decided not only did that make sense, but to hide my being gay, for my kids to have to keep the secret from them -- was not a way to live. They can sometimes not hear too well, so after talking a bit about my path to self discovery out of depression this past year, I told them I'm gay, I like men, I will be dating men. (just to make sure they heard correctly). My totally non emotive father put his arm around me and gave me a hug. So for him, that's that. My mother put her hand on my arm, said little, and in my head I envisioned her thinking "ohmyfuckinggod what has he done, and he's told his children, and what do i tell my best friend at the next table, I hope she didn't hear any of this." I did get an I love you from her, that's about it. I'll see what's next. I'm in a really good space about it. They certainly will not walk away from a relationship with me and the kids, so some processing is likely in order. I printed out this PFLAG brochure and left it with them along with a local PFLAG meeting schedule: http://community.pflag.org/document.doc?id=495 There is more PFLAG literature online, more seemed to be to be possibly inundating. I'm out to all family & close friends, except for a small pocket of my community, which there will be a little wait for. Liberating, freeing, and amazing. To those not out yet -- try it, you'll like it! There's no "good" or "perfect" time to tell the people in your life. Just do it. Pete = gay Pete = out. Awesome!
Congradultions!!! I'm so happy for you for having the courage! I wish I was as brave as you and would come out to my parents.
WTG Pete! My parents are in their 70's and I don't know if I'd ever be able to come out to them as bi. Congrats!
Congratulations! There may be no "good" time, but there are times that are a lot less good than others. That's sort of the situation I'm in. All I can do right now is make changes so that when/if the news gets out, the problems I might face now will be minimized or--ideally--eliminated.
Fantastic news Pete, as you say you have almost come out to everyone - how many do you have left? I got close this evening to coming out to my wife but chickened out because she was getting too stressed and in floods of tears at my very obvious deepening depression, I just could not bring myself to do it. I do feel closer now than ever before with encouraging stories like yours, and think its now just a matter of weeks. Sale Gay Guy
That is really amazing, Pete! I've been reading your threads with a smile on my face. Glad it's all been going so smoothly for you.
