Dear Strangers...
While growing up in a small town can cause challenges when it comes to finding the confidence to live out and proud, Beth Healy shares how one stranger’s random act of kindness helped her accept her sexuality.
I check my phone yet another time: she should be here by nowher plane landed nearly half an hour ago. I readjust the flowers I brought, shuffle my feet, and glance nervously at the arrivals gate, skipping a beat every time I see a flash of dark curly hair, only to breathe a sigh when I realise it’s not her.
I’ve been waiting for my partner to arrive from Madrid, the city where we met. It’s been two months since we last saw each other and I’m overcome with emotions. I start to imagine the moment we see each other: will I have the courage to kiss her? I look around at the crowds of people moving through the arrivals gateyoung and old, families and kids and same-sex couples. No one will notice, I tell myself. If there’s anywhere it’s acceptable, it’s here.