Unlikely Couple, Lifelong Love

From the video description:

Lawrence Moore and Richard Hubbard, a biracial couple, reflect on 56 years together after meeting as military Russian linguists in Japan in the 1970s. An unexpected twist of fate brought them together just as Richard was about to begin a heterosexual life.

They share how friendship, mutual respect, and accepting each other’s differences helped them build a lasting love.

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Waitin' for the Weekend

"Dance with Me" by Vintage Photomontage - a lovely thing:

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Old Fashioned Homo Love

I just came across two young fellas who have shared the story of their life and love in many YouTube videos.  They don't look gay, they don't sound gay, but they sure as hell are gay.  And so much in love.  Beautiful.

The vids I've posted below are the most poignant to your Head Trucker, who used to be a great romantic - before life knocked the stuffings out of me.  I always wanted the things you see in these videos - the rapturous love, the proposal, the wedding, the home, the happily ever after.  Someone to build a life with, a shared life worth living, not an empty string of one-night stands.

But wantin' ain't gettin'.  Sometimes, though, you get what you need.  Keep trying.  I had two husbands - as I like to say - before I met M.P.  Despite rosy beginnings both times, they didn't work out: one left and one died. There are no guarantees in this mortal life, none. You pays your money and you takes your chances.  (But it's better to try and fail, than never to have tried at all.  At least you lived and loved.)

There's not many pics of us together.  Here we are at Xmas 2010.
I'm not really that much taller than M.P. - I'd just come in from outside
and was still wearing boots, while he was wearing house shoes.

But then 18 years ago today, M.P. and I met for the first time, and we hit it off right from the start.  We don't do all that sloppy stuff like you see in these vids.  Been there, done that.  Finances are tight, so we don't travel, don't go to bars or movies. don't even eat out. But we think alike, laugh a lot, take care of each other in sickness and in health, and we're content with what we have, despite the ups and downs of old age. A quiet life in a happy little home is enough for us two old boys; it's all we need and all we want.  

As someone who well recalls a time when gay marriage was an impossible dream, it's quite touching to watch these young'uns start their life together, as I would have liked to do - a couple of regular guys in cowboy boots and hats getting hitched before a crowd of family and friends, heading off hand in hand in the prime of youth, in the pink dawn of love.  As all young lovers should, straight or gay.  Sweet.  Very sweet. 

A Ring for My Boyfriend (2016) (9:31)

The Proposal, Part 1 (2016) (10:25)

The Proposal, Part 2 (2016) (8:50)

The Wedding (7/11/17) (4;57)

Bonus: Zach has a deep, sexy voice, but I can't quite place his accent - it's Southern, but not quite Texan. It reminds me of Mark Collie's accent -- my first husband and I saw him in concert more than 30 years ago. Here's a song of his we used to dance to on cowboy night at the gay bar:

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Sunday Drive: Without You

Once in a great while, I go searching through the internet for old friends and lovers.  More often than not, the search leads nowhere; too much time and distance have covered all tracks.  But a couple of days ago, just on a sudden whim, I tried one more time.  And I found Pat, my best friend in high school and church, more than half a century ago.  Or rather, I found his obituary.

Pat was my first love, though we were not lovers in the physical sense, I'm sad to say.  It would have been a glad and joyful thing - but damnation and denial got in the way.

He died in 2020, leaving four children and eleven grandchildren.  I had wondered over the years if he was still alive, where he was, and how he was doing.  The last I heard of him, in the late 70s, he was working on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico - a high-paying but highly dangerous job. 

The picture below, from his obituary site, was probably taken 20 or 30 years ago; he looks hearty, healthy, and prosperous there.  The obit says he was much loved by his family and friends, and I suppose he had a pretty happy life.  I'm very glad to know that.

Dapper, dashing Pat in the prime of life, long after I knew him.
I've never had a picture of him until now, only memories.

We became friends in church when I was 16 and he was 17.  It so happened that we both had parents in the same distant city, so it was only logical that on school holidays and other times, we would drive up together.  I had a brand-new Chevy Malibu 350 V8, cherry red with a black vinyl top.  Pat had no car; didn't want the responsibility, he said.  So we had many long rides together and got to know each other very well.

We were an odd couple.  Pat dropped out of school to work in construction; I finished high school and started junior college.  We were about the same height, six foot in boots, but Pat had a sculpted, muscular body with washboard abs and a permanent tan from working outdoors year-round.  I was a bookworm.  He was blond, I was brunet.  He was the life of the party, I was the quiet type.  But opposites attract, don't they?

Early on, he asked me, "How did you get to be so smart?"  I answered, "I don't know, it just happened.  How did you get to be so strong?"  He replied, "I don't know, it just happened."  Despite the differences, we somehow gravitated together, and enjoyed each other's company greatly.  Pat was the big brother I never had: a role model, someone to be a guy with.  He filled a great need.

Mano a Mano

Two studly gymnasts act out a love affair.  Wow.

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When We Were Young and Gay

Old pics of young men remind us: there are only so many summers, and so many springs. 

Enjoy what you have while you have it - and be grateful.

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Elder: A Gay Mormon Love Story

Not as boring as you think!  This is a poignant story of coming to terms with the truth you were taught and the truth you know inside.  I suppose all of us good little gay boys who grew up in a homophobic church (and they all were, in my day) has a story of the Love That Could Not Be like this one. And of finally daring to step outside the sacred circle - and finding not judgment, but peace.

 

A YouTube commenter has kindly supplied the rest of the story from the New York Times (behind a paywall): 

Though Tom left Gianni in Italy, their relationship continued in various forms over the years. Gianni still lives in Pescara, where he is an artist and cares for his elderly mother. Tom returned to the United States, where he remained closeted but eventually left the Mormon Church. (His marriage to a Mormon woman ended in divorce, after which he came out.) Tom now lives in Salt Lake City with his partner. Although their romance has ended, he and Gianni still consider themselves deeply connected and close friends. 

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"I Just Want Him Here"

BuzzFeed reports on forbidden love:  a gay Texan separated from his Iranian fiancé by Trump's travel ban:

Understanding

A Capra-esque short film that tells a poignant tale in less than three minutes. Description from Kodak Motion Picture Film's YouTube channel:

Director Terry Rayment's 35mm film "Understanding" poignantly depicts the transformational power of love and happiness. Cinematographer Kate Arizmendi captured all of the emotions beautifully on KODAK VISION3 500T 5219.