Hey Joel, was it rough growing up with two dads in the 90s, given everything that was going on in the community back then?
"I- Well, you see... Um..." He splutters. "Okay, I think I'd better clear some stuff up. I grew up with Reuben while John kept visiting us when he got the chance. So I didn't exactly grow up with them under the same roof. Plus Reuben didn't come out until I was in Grade 8. But yeah... the 90s weren't a great time for my dad. By which I mean John. Reuben never really made queer friends the same way he did."
"He lost quite a few of his loved ones. Odette and I were too young to particularly get death the same way we do now. Dad kept telling us So-And-So had decided to live underground. For years, I believed there were a bunch of neighbourhoods underground that people moved to when they got sick, the same way you'd move away for a new job. It wasn't until I was in maybe Grade 5 or 6 that I went 'wait a minute'. Penny probably should have dropped a little sooner since my uncle died from it when I was 7. But then again, I was still a little kid and life at home was quite busy after my sister was born a few months earlier."
"Sorry, didn't mean to be such a downer. The point is, Dad shielded us from just how grim stuff seemed at the time. Oh and trust me, if you don't have a parent who was a young adult at the height of the AIDS crisis, count yourself lucky. God, Dad was insufferable when I was in my teens. For good reason, I know, but it drove me mad."
"So I suppose, to answer your question, it rougher to look back on what was happening while I was mostly oblivious. Probably would have cuddled him more on top of the times I went ‘oh he seems sad so I should comfort him’."
