72 Hours of Bittersweet Fabulousness

"What are you wearing?"

In another situation, that could have been the prelude to an inappropriate conversation. This time, though, it was the first call received after I left the house at noon on Thursday, on my way to three nights, four days at Disney, soaking in all that is Gay Day Weekend. This fact guided the conversation with Jerry, which continued with my reply: "Just shorts and a T-shirt." "Oh," says he, "I was just checking to see how fabulous we would be." "Dear, we will be fabulous no matter what we wear."

My ninth year of doing the Gay Day gig, and we finally decide to stay at Disney, 20 minutes from the house, if only for the post-drinking bus transportation back to our hotel. It was also great fun to get to know some of the others in the so-called "Bachelor Party." (So called by the poor clueless reservation agent, who, on taking down a list of 7 men's names for the reservation, had to ask, "Is this a bachelor party in the making?" Not exactly.) There was much (even, dare I say, too much) alcohol in the room, and much (not too much) alcohol consumption there, and at Pleasure Island.

While much fun was had by all, it was also bittersweet for me. My good friend Brian C., who has been friend and confidant for many years, moved to Ohio with beau Brad this morning, timed so he could be here through the Weekend. We tried not to contemplate how last Thursday was his last as one of the Thursday regular crowd. (I realized, too late, I could have made a gift of some sort, and dubbed it "B.L.T." for Brian's Last Thursday.) There was no avoiding it as we approached midnight on the dance floor last night. Goodbyes were begun, and I found myself on the verge of tears more than once.

If it had to be the end of an era, it was the night for it. They played the expected standards ("Free Gay Happy" and "It's Raining Men" among them), and the famed rotating dance floor ground its way to a broken halt around midnight. It was a weekend of general fabulousness, and I think most of the participants were talking about next year using the term "when" and not "if."