Proverbial Pachyderms

There has been a small issue concerning my family that has been kind of bothering me for sometime. All right, all right, I know that could be several things. This particular issue involves one of my uncles. It isn't anything bad by any means, it's just something I would like to have confirmed so that whenever my mom's side of the family is together, I won't have to deal with the damn elephant in the room. Everyone else may be blissfully unaware of this pachyderm, however I doubt it. I think it just sits there in the corner, ignored, just waiting for someone to pay attention to it. You see, about 6 or 7 years ago I started to piece together that one of my uncles was not exactly like the others. Let me explain what I mean by making a list of things I've noticed:

1. My uncle has lived with a male friend longer than I have been alive. During this time, as far as I can recall, neither of them has ever had a serious relationship with a woman.

2. They argue with each other as if they are a married couple. I've never seen people who are simply good friends or roommates argue over things like what color to paint the dining room, among other things.

3. My uncle's friend is always present at family events. I cannot recall a time when he hasn't been, except for another uncle's wedding due to a resent surgery. In fact, all of my life I have always thought of him as another uncle.

4. When they have visitors, and if they're house is full, the friend will give up his room and share a bed with my uncle without any sort of hesitation or nervous explanation. You know, the whole confirming my sexual preferences thing that some men have.


Those are just some of the things that I've noticed. I think we all know where this is pointing. Now, I've been trying to thing of whom to talk to or gently prod clues out of about this. I just want to make sure that Pete, Chad and I aren't the only people who noticed this. The thing is, I think everyone knows, it's just that they feel like they need to protect my brother and myself from the truth. My mom's family is very Catholic and to have a known gay person in the family would be, well, not a good thing in their eyes...especially my grandparents. I've heard my relatives say a lot of negative things about people of different races over the years, but never have I heard any sort of gay bashing, which was another thing that kind of made me wonder.

I think that I do have the perfect candidate for this little inquiry. Someone who had been exposed to the family for several years and more than likely knows a thing or two and wouldn't really hesitate to tell me: my dad.

In no way would I make a big deal out of this. I just want someone to confirm it for me so that the poor elephant can leave and go sit in someone else's living room. Geez, am I even making any sense anymore? It's 4:22am and I REALLY need my sleep.