2008 Christmas Letter

Hi Everybody!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s March already. I’m curled up here in my new apartment, it’s a two bedroom loft with high ceilings and an amazing view. I have to say that it’s nice to be back. I’m feeling better now that I’ve got that whole immigration problem fixed.

I know that most of you have moved past the holiday season and are on to bigger and better things but I still wanted to write and let you know what’s happening with us at 1101 Spruce. I just wouldn’t feel right about the new year without being able to tell you all what we were up to in 2007!

Of course, with everything that happened last year, 1101 is more of a state of mind than an actual place. After the Army Corps of Engineers demolished our house, Lance our landlord promised to rebuild it for us. I think he was feeling like part of our little family. And what a little family we were! The silver lining of us being at Bethesda was that we really came together and I think I’m safe in saying that we were closer than just roommates.

Despite being scattered all over it was a really good time for our little tribe. Plans for the house were coming along and we visited each other whenever we had days off. Sundays were especially fun. Sally had church in the mornings and afterward we’d all meet at her apartment and make a big lunch together and spend the afternoon watching movies. We all missed Tony of course, but being together took a lot of the sting out of our loss.

Unfortunately, plans for the house fell through. Lance didn’t get as much money from the insurance company as he had expected and decided to move on to other ventures, especially since we hadn’t found a roommate for the downstairs bedroom yet. And I want to wish Lance just the best of luck with whatever he decides to do!

Jimmy and Mitch were particularly upset by the news about the house as they were having a rough time living apart from each other. As you might recall, Mitch’s family is very religious and he hadn’t yet found it within him to tell his parents about Jimmy. Since they were both back at their respective homes, they had to sneak around to keep their relationship a secret. With the house not being rebuilt, Mitch’s parents put some pressure on him to not to move out while he finished school in order to keep his loans down.

Of course, Jimmy and Mitch fought about this and in the end their relationship couldn’t handle the strain. After what can only be called a particularly bad breakup, Jimmy decided to transfer to the University of Oregon at the end of the semester.

Poor Mitch, he was just crushed and really felt abandoned by his first love. He wasn’t himself that last half of the semester and we were all very worried about him. Thankfully Sally was there for him and helped him get through those final weeks of class. For better or worse, she also talked him into attending Hopeful Healings, an intensive Christian themed camp that’s meant to help cure men of their homosexual lifestyles. I personally didn’t think that was the answer or really appropriate as breakups are breakups and I had never seen Mitch as happy as when he was with Jimmy but I wanted to be supportive so I didn’t say anything. So while Jimmy was packing to move to Oregon, Mitch and Sally were packing to take Mitch to Hopeful Healings. They told their parents they were going to visit some friends.

Despite my concerns, when Mitch returned he seemed like an entirely new person. Gone was the depression, replaced instead with a new intense zest for life. It was good to see him so positive and happy. He started going to church with Sally again and even joined her youth group in running missionary outreach programs on the weekends. Plus he reconnected with Cindy and Chuck and the three of them became inseparable when he wasn’t with Sally.

That summer was looking up. I was working, trying to save enough money to move out of my parent’s place and have a little left for my final semester at school. Sally was just radiant with joy over having her brother back. Cindy and Chuck had gotten jobs as club promoters downtown and while Mitch wasn’t really into that scene, he was having great time being out and meeting all kinds of new people. Cindy even hinted that there might be a special lady in Mitch’s future.

And then I found out during the fall semester that because I had taken all those incompletes I was still going to need to take the spring semester in ‘09 to finish. I was pretty bummed about this as I had been looking forward to being done with school. Plus I had just moved into a new apartment with a friend and was looking forward to working full time so I could really afford the place.

Sally was really great though. She helped me find some side work that I could do from home and even suggested that I do a little traveling over winter break to help clear my head. She said I could visit her friends in Panama and I could stay with them so all I would have to pay for was the airfare. As I got excited about the trip, another semester at school wasn’t looking so bad.

And she had travel plans herself. She had talked her church into funding a two-week trip for her and Mitch to Africa to visit Eric and help him with his work there. She was super excited because Mitch had worked so hard with her youth group over the past few months and this was just the kind of thing that she wanted to share with her brother. While she was planning her trip to Africa, I was booking my tickets to Panama.

It was a Friday night when she finally got the tickets and visas in the mail. She asked me if I wanted to drive over with her and surprise Mitch with the good news.

Had I known that Mitch’s parents were out of town that weekend or that Cindy and Chuck weren’t just club promoters but worked for a fetish bar, I would have begged off. I don’t want to ruin your week, so I won’t describe what Sally and I found when we opened the door to her parent’s house but suffice to say Mitch had found himself a very special young man and along with Chuck and Cindy, they were enjoying a not so quiet night at home. I’m not sure what they were doing but Cindy tells me that ‘blood play’ is very common in the fetish community and that she assures me that Mitch could breath even with that red ball he had stuffed in his mouth.

Sally was inconsolable and left a few days later for Africa, several weeks before she had planned. As of this writing, she hasn’t contacted Mitch and she’s still there, working with Eric. As for Mitch, terrified that his parents would find out what happened and cut him off, he moved in with Cindy and Chuck. I hear that, while their relationship could be considered non-traditional, the three of them are very happy together.

At the end of the semester, I flew down to Panama and met Sally’s friends. After everything that had happened this year, I felt like I owed it to myself to take a little me time. They were really great and we all had a fantastic time. And after a couple of weeks, I felt refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of school.

I was all set to return to the when my luggage got lost on my flight to Panama City. I made the foolish mistake of packing my passport in my luggage, something that everyone told me not to do but silly me, I did it anyway. This wouldn’t have been so bad, just inconvenient but I was stopped by Panamanian police who asked me for my passport. I tried to explain that it had been lost along with my luggage and they arrested me under a new Panamanian anti-terror law. I know they were just doing their jobs but a night in a Panamanian jail is enough to test anyone’s patience. For all the fun I had in Panama, I won’t be going back.

Everyone at the consulate was really nice however and once I had my birth certificate and social security card mailed down to me it only took a month to get a new passport. Which is why this letter is so late. I didn’t want to write while I was in such a dreadful state.

And just a note, because I got stuck in Panama and I couldn’t work, my roommate couldn’t afford to stay in the apartment. He’s since moved and a two bedroom is really more than I need (or can afford!) so if you know of anyone looking for a room, I’ve got one for rent.

Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year.

1101 Spruce