Hello Daddy

My list of annoying things that must be done this weekend includes: polish brown boots, weed out t-shirt drawer, try toggles on the towel rod that's falling out of the wall and tell Dad about the ceremony. Well, cross that last one off the list. I did it yesterday.

I convinced myself that telling was best done in person which bought me some time since I don't see my dad very often. But with every post and purchase and conversation, I felt guilty that someone so close to me didn't know yet. So, I buckled Judy into her leash and set out on a Wicker Park specialty: I went to the dog park to have a personal conversation on my cell phone.

We went down the list exchanging updates on my siblings. My little sister is on track to become head recreational therapist at a veterans hospital. She is excelling at playing games with old men. My youngest brother went missing after a Halloween party, and apparently is floating from one friend's couch to another in a drug- and computer game-induced haze. David, the newlywed, and most recent host of Daniel the floater, is mediating concern for his brother and his wife.

That brings the conversation to me. It went something like this:

"Dad, I have some news that I wanted to tell you in person, but it doesn't look like we're going to see each other until Thanksgiving. So, I'm just going to tell you now. Kelley and I are having a commitment ceremony next summer in Provincetown, Mass., a little resort town on the tip of Cape Cod where we've gone on some nice weekends away together. It is going to be small -- just siblings and friends. We'd like you to come. We're also going to have a Chicago reception that's going to be bigger, with co-workers, extended family, college friends, whoever, but we haven't nailed that down yet."

Hmm. This is where I should be able to say what my dad said. But I was so worked up and trying to play it cool that I don't really remember. What was important was that I finally told him. And he said, "Congratulations."

Oh wait, I just remembered two things he said. He asked how long I've lived with Kelley. Which allowed me to tell him the story about how for five years now KQ's been bugging me to take a plunge -- any plunge -- and that I agreed to commit when I turned 30. And he asked me where and what Provincetown was, which triggered my expansive knowledge of geography. If Cape Cod were a flexed arm, Provincetown would be at the end of your fist. It's where all the fishermen and gay people are and you can get there by ferry. Ooh, I said "gay" on the phone with my dad. That might be a first.