Happy Pride Day! Observations from a Street Corner


Happy Pride Day! Today was an unbelievably gorgeous South Carolina day following the drenching rains from Hurricane Hermine yesterday…only white clouds floating in the sky above us and lots of sunshine for the 2016 Pride Parade in downtown Columbia.  Teresa is able to navigate with a walker now so we packed up two chairs and drove to a perfect spot to watch the parade at the corner of Sumter and Washington Streets.Splendid! Enjoy the parade with us…

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Cap, scarf, phone, walker – and that fabulous smile

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Early arrivals on the opposite side of Sumter St Corner

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Two Moms with little girls dressed in Pride colors

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A picture of diversity walking across Sumter St

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Looking up from our corner in downtown Columbia

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Girls waiting to cross at our corner of Washington and Sumter Streets

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Lighting up and hanging in

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Famously Hot South Carolina Pride!

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Local ballet legend William Starrett –

looking festive in  red as he waves to the crowd

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Mother of Pride Harriet Hancock with daughter 

Jennifer Tague and Grand Marshall Tony Snell

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Diversity is always in style at TJ Maxx

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Amen, Brothers and Sisters

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Nothing says Pride like feathers

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These clergy have been with us since the beginning

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Happy faces of Pride

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Our friend Saskia and her son Finn join us

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South Carolina Pedal Parlor – I had no idea what this was – our neighbor Mark explained it to me.

Mark and his wife Debbie had joined us on our side of Sumter Street

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Finn brought his personal mask

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Girls Rock followed by hula hoopers

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What are they doing with those hoops??

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Love wins

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What a sight!

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Love has no labels

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When Finn grows up, he will love the gays

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So much happiness as the Parade passed by

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My personal favorite the Prime Timers remember Stonewall – where the Revolution began

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Our corner – lots of friends joined us

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Finn has seen enough

(photo courtesy of Nekki Shutt079

T and me with our friend Jack

The day was really fun for us, but when the Parade was over, we had to pack up our chairs to go home to Casa de Canterbury. As we said goodbye to our friends in the bank parking lot, I turned to see two girls at the ATM machine. This really said it all for me. Happy Pride!

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About Sheila Morris

Sheila Morris is a personal historian, essayist with humorist tendencies, lesbian activist, truth seeker and speaker in the tradition of other female Texas storytellers including her paternal grandmother. In December, 2017, the University of South Carolina Press published her collection of first-person accounts of a few of the people primarily responsible for the development of LGBTQ organizations in South Carolina. Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home will resonate with everyone interested in LGBTQ history in the South during the tumultuous times from the AIDS pandemic to marriage equality. She has published five nonfiction books including two memoirs, an essay compilation and two collections of her favorite blogs from I'll Call It Like I See It. Her first book, Deep in the Heart: A Memoir of Love and Longing received a Golden Crown Literary Society Award in 2008. Her writings have been included in various anthologies - most recently the 2017 Saints and Sinners Literary Magazine. Her latest book, Four Ticket Ride, was released in January, 2019. She is a displaced Texan living in South Carolina with her wife Teresa Williams and their dogs Spike, Charly and Carl. She is also Naynay to her two granddaughters Ella and Molly James who light up her life for real. Born in rural Grimes County, Texas in 1946 her Texas roots still run wide and deep.
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6 Responses to Happy Pride Day! Observations from a Street Corner

  1. Wayside Artist says:

    What a great turnout! Love always wins. Always!!

    Happy Pride!

    Like

  2. hulanne@earthlink.net says:

    What a beautiful day !!!  Thanks for sharing it with us, Sheila !!!!  Theresa looks as beautiful as ever.  You are a great couple !             Much love                 Anne

    Like

    • Thanks so much, Anne! And I hope you had a very Happy Birthday this month, too…I think of you with love on your birthday and the rest of the year, too…
      We did have a beautiful day – truly – it was an effort to get T out with her new knee, but we made it and were so glad we did…
      Not sure when we will get back to Texas but I would love to see you when we do!
      Much love to you from all of us at Casa de Canterbury…
      Sheila
      P.S. I always remember C.H. whenever you write – it’s so much like what he would say. I loved him dearly.

      Like

  3. What a wonderful day! Great to see that Teresa made it too 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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