  coptright 2002 John JJ Martin ...I remember telling my mum when I was eighteen that I was gay and she came at me with total anger and hatred. She said to me after a week of talking about it that she would accept my “choice” but would never respect it. She said afterward that she didn’t want me to tell anyone in the family of my leanings because it would hurt her to know that other people knew about her gay son. I can’t really understand why she thinks this way. It’s odd. She grew up as a member of the baby boomer generation with all the sex drugs and rock&amp;roll but when it came about that her son was a puff, she can’t seem to budge. I guess she’ll have to miss out on my life since she also said that she would never want to see any boyfriends of mine (providing I have them of course) around her.
We never spoke about me being gay since. It’s truly an elephant in the living room kind of thing. ...I do remember one time my father taking me out to a field near our house and flying a kite. A dragonhead printed on translucent plastic molded with a wire in the shape of a circle. The tail was at the very least 20 feet long. In fact I know this is true because I still have the kite in my closet in the original bag it came with. Rainbowed and frayed now, I remember seeing it fly high in the sky in that field with Dad. It’s old and ripped the bag.
The kite isn’t in nice shape either, but I can bring myself to get rid of it. When I was England for the first time my Aunt Mary got it for me for my birthday. I had just turned eight. And I loved it. It’s one of the few things I have left from when I was young that brings my nerves to the surface of my skin and warms me to the point that I can cry at the drop of a hat. 
