Gayland loves a party. One of his greatest joys is gathering up all the people he can and loving on them by playing host. I can't tell you how many times I got home from Channel 13 only to be informed that 10 people were coming over for dinner, and should we eat inside or outside?
He would cook for everyone while I hurriedly set the table and tidied up. Gayland always reassured me that the house looked fine, but of course Mr. Untidy himself wouldn't know a tidy house if he lived in one.
I finally made peace with it, figuring that anyone who was coming to judge my housekeeping skills was missing the point of the gathering.
Gayland was a Taurus (April 20-May 20), described this way: "No one will expose you to the finer things in life quite like a Taurus. This fixed earth sign has impeccable taste and loves to indulge."
No matter what you think of astrological signs, this one is spot on.
With Gayland, the finer things in life didn't mean just food and art and music, although those were definitely part of it all. For him, though, the finer things in life mean sitting on the floor with a child, having a serious talk about bunnies. Or walking in the park with an unhoused person, learning their story. Or helping a man dying much too young from AIDS realize he was beloved of God, and certainly loved by Gayland.
Or, in Israel, spending one day with an Israeli friend and another with a Palestinian friend. Or listening for the 1000th time to a person grieving for a lost child, and being fully present and caring. Or marveling at his two grandsons, who were the most amazing boys ever born. (He was absolutely correct.)
Or driving people to the polls to vote. Or writing his stream-of-consciousness newsletter to his various congregations, who got used to his idiosyncratic punctuation. Or quietly helping someone pay their rent, or make a car payment.
Gayland also was a champion appreciator. He appreciated beautiful gardens, although he never worked one day to grow one. He appreciated people who tried hard to make things around them beautiful, no matter how big or small the effort. He appreciated good cooking, and loved me even though cooking is NOT one of my skills.
Most of all, he appreciated LIFE and all it threw at him. He weathered is all because his faith in a loving God never wavered.
Not that there weren't things he thought God could do better -- and I am sure he has informed God of his entire list.
And I am sure God is at Gayland's party, lifting Their glasses in a toast to the Birthday Boy.
Happy birthday my love. I miss you every day.
