by sheila morris
storytelling for truth lovers
The 1993 March on Washington gave me courage to change the things I could within a community of believers who had hope and faith in a future where everyone had equal rights. I was 47 years old; it had been a long, mostly solitary, journey from Richards, Texas, (pop.500) to marching with hundreds of thousands in the nation’s capitol. Free at last, thank God, free at last.
June is Pride Month so celebrate!
Onward.
I
When Insults Had Class
“Some cause happiness wherever they go: others, whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” – Mae West
“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend…if you have one.” – George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second…if there is one.” – Winston Churchill, in response
Now that’s funny…
In March, 2007, I was working on a collection of stories that became my first book Deep in the Heart: A Memoir of Love and Longing. One of the few friends I asked for beta reader feedback when I was writing that book was Nekki Shutt, who I met when she moved to South Carolina from Florida to be near her grandparents and attend law school at the University of South Carolina in the early 1990s. She was young, ambitious, a hard worker and became a driving force in the queer community at an early age. We became friends, sister activists, and have continued to laugh with each other for more than thirty years.
On March 09, 2007, I received an email from Nekki with the subject line “When Insults Had Class!” Good inspiration for your writing, she added.
The quotes featured above from Oscar Wilde, Mae West, George Bernard Shaw, and Winston Churchill were included in that email I saved for eighteen years because I collect words that entertain me. I hope they entertain you, too.
One final quote from that email was from Groucho Marx, of the famous comic Marx Brothers. “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”
I can say without hesitation any evening with Nekki Shutt is a wonderful one; guaranteed to be full of fun, loads of irresistible laughter, and conversation that will spark the imagination.
On the other hand, beware Nekki Shutt in a courtroom. Congratulations to a courageous woman who celebrated her eighth anniversary this week as a founding partner in the firm Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, PA. She also was sworn in on May 15th. as the president-elect of the SC Bar Association.
What I admire most about Nekki, however, is her love and loyalty to friends and family because that’s a core value we share in addition to our commitment to equality and justice for all.
Nekki, Pretty, Francie and me at T’s belated birthday bash
I remember when insults had class – but barely – I think I’ll keep this email a while longer.
Hear ye, hear ye: all those who have ears, listen to a message from moderate conservative political commentator David Brooks:
“All my life I have had a certain idea about America. I have thought of America as a deeply flawed nation that is nonetheless a tremendous force for good in the world. From Abraham Lincoln to Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan and beyond, Americans fought for freedom and human dignity and against tyranny; we promoted democracy, funded the Marshall Plan, and saved millions of people across Africa from HIV and AIDS. When we caused harm – Vietnam, Iraq – it was because of our over-confidence and naivete, not because of evil intentions.
Until January 20, 2025, I didn’t realize how much of my very identity was built on this faith in my country’s goodness — on the idea that we Americans are partners in a grand and heroic enterprise, that our daily lives are ennobled by service to that cause. Since January 20, as I have watched America behave vilely — toward our friends in Canada and Mexico, toward our friends in Europe, toward the heroes in Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office– I’ve had trouble describing the anguish I’ve experienced. Grief? Shock? Like I’m living through some sort of hallucination? Maybe the best description for what I’m feeling is moral shame: To watch the loss of your nation’s honor is embarrassing and painful.”
David Brooks is not a writer I follow with fervor nor is he one I deliberately avoid as a conservative policy wonk; but in the May, 2025, issue of The Atlantic he wrote a piece called “Everything We Once Believed In” which captured feelings I’ve personally struggled to express since the November, 2024, election. As we remember the lives lost by those serving in the U.S. military at home and abroad on this Memorial Day weekend, I challenge us to also remember why they served.
Shame on us when we forget.
Pretty’s birthday party at home of dear friends Dick and Curtis
Saskia and Pretty all smiles while Curtis keeps watch over candles
Dick’s birthday was the day after Pretty’s – much merriment at the dinner table
(Dick, Bill, and Saskia share laughs)
a toast for Saskia who became an American citizen this month
she and her son Finn have been family to us for as long as I can remember
Curtis, Saskia, Finn, Pretty, Dick, me, and Bill
thanks to Curtis for the group photo!
A jolly group – thanks to 14-year-old Finn for lowering the group’s average age, and no thanks to Dick and me for doing the opposite.
Happy Birthday to Pretty and Dick! We celebrate friendships that have stood the test of decades with laughter and love – that anchor holds us together, and we are grateful.
**********************
P.S. Strawberry birthday cake and chocolate covered strawberries courtesy Always Original Bakery in West Columbia. Strawberry cobbler courtesy of Curtis. Strawberry jam made by Saskia. Who thinks Pretty loves strawberries??!! Yummy!!
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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