Thanksgiving – otherwise known as the time in-between It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Though this is my second Thanksgiving here, I begin to wonder if Nashville is the right place for me. Turkey Day is time to take pause and be grateful for what one has, so I will turn to Nashville and reflect for us on our gay community. 

Our small yet delicate community has many great things to be thankful for.  There are my typical haunts of Tribe, Red, Play and the Germantown Café, but there are many other areas one should check out such as, Holy Trinity Community Church, Human Rights Campaign, MetroNashville Softball Association, NashvilleCares and West End United Methodist Church.

One thing I am extremely grateful for is a friend who challenged me on my New Years Eve resolution. Typically, I would make the same resolution to never order the same thing at the same restaurant.

Instead my challenge was “equity in friendship.” To anyone who is new in Nashville, make this your pledge. If you do, a lot of heartache will be spared in your life.  I had a self-centered friend who made everything about him. Sort of like what I am doing to this article. Anyways, I ended the friendship. When I walked away my heart and soul were severely damaged, but by the end of the year, I have grown to be a more independent person. The sort of person that doesn’t’ need anyone to go with to the movies or to the club.

So in order to bring the article back full circle, though we need to be thankful for what “Gay” Nashville has to offer and our society needs to look towards Christmas where we should send out messages of “good will to mankind” as well as to make sure that every lesbian and gay man does not feel alone this holiday season.  

For even Charlie Brown told Sally that holidays were depressing. Sally responded, “I know what you mean. I went down to buy a turkey tree and all they have are things for Christmas.”