A Circle of Love
/Gay in the 1960’s
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Hercheval stood on Lac Pointu
Named Pointed Lake due to its needle point to the north shore of the lake
He loved to fish here only on Wednesday morning
See, this was his chance to meet Adam, a Wednesday morning fisherman, too
This happened each week come rain or shine, sleet or snow
Hervheval had an old beat up cabin where he and Adam had met for years, last count forty-nine now
Lovers for around fifty years
Ah, it was a complicated affair, yet it worked for all involved
Sometimes Hercheval’s wife met the men, too, only for fishing and then she went home
Her name was Wanda Lee, she’d given her blessings to Hercheval, her beloved husband
It was the 1960’s, Wanda Lee knew that Hercheval was a queer man
She loved him
And he loved her
Not every relationships is built on traditional love
Wanda Lee and Hercheval married older in life
They were best friends and wanted children
And the marriage worked
Ten years later Hercheval met Adam while catching trout on Lac Pointu
He had found his man, someone who could satisfy his male sexual needs
Adam was not one to require more than Hercheval could give him
He had met Wanda Lee, and they liked each other, too
Wanda Lee understood her man
He’d given her a couple of kids
Hercheval was a good man
Wanda Lee was a good woman
They’re not to be judged
It worked for all adults involved and for the kids
The children were guarded until they became adults to understand such alternate love relationships
Alternate relationship worlds have always existed, mostly living in the shadows
Accommodations so that some who might not find love could
These alternate realities existed because mainstream population dictated so
Usually, as a reaction to sin and judgment when all the while the adults are living in loving relationships in order to find sexual identities that might work for all
On this Wednesday the boys caught trout and decided to let them live in throwing them back into the lake
They decided to go to the beat up cabin
They needed to hold each other nakedly on an old rickety oak bed with cotton sheets
Wanda Lee knew the importance of their male bonding
She made sure they were comfortable on each of these rendezvous
It was an act of respect, love and service that Wanda Lee provided for the men, one man the father of her children
Such an act of grace for a man who had given his seed in love to a woman he could only love in limited ways
There was no anger, no regret for celebrating the love that Hercheval had found as his own in a way he could never satisfy himself or his wife
The man, Hercheval and the woman Wanda Lee understood this story in life as one that was quite different
It had allowed them to find strength and love that filled each one
Wanda Lee had a man who loved her in heart and soul, had given her children, but couldn’t easily provide her the intensity and passionate physical love that he could give to Adam, his lover
The children had a loving father
Adam had found a friend and lover that he could meet each Wednesday to make love that would last him for one week.
Each sacrificed
Yet not one saw it as sacrifice
It was a family woven in love with thread of multi folk who loved in big ways for each other
By Barefoot Cajun
From: United States
Website: https://substack.com/@thebarefootcajun897878?r=1jtlgx&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile