Yesterday Flint Area Writers when to Pride, here in Flint. After last week, frankly, I didn't even want to go. It was going to be hard to find the fun in the event, I thought when no matter what the world seems to want to slide right to hell over and over.
But we had plans. We had a table, and it was time to get out and talk to people about books and about writing.
I was prepared for a long, hot day.
But the second that Tiffanie Shaw and Kayla Langmaid showed up at my door---bedecked in rainbows and pronoun buttons, things started to look up. We stopped for snacks, and big floppy hats, and got to the park on time. We set up our table under a rainbow canopy and filled it with books, sculptures from Kayla, and some crochet from me. And then, like any show, we sat down and waited for people to come.
It wasn't long before the walkway was filled with people. We saw families with kids, groups of teenagers, seniors, drag queens, and even a couple of showgirls in full regalia. This was nothing like the last Pride we'd been to. Every person that passed us stopped to talk. At the end of the day, we had lost our voices and our table was empty. We even had a few recruits for our group.
Everyone we met exuded joy, and it was contagious. In the middle of all the terrible things happening in the world right now, it was nothing short of amazing. Thanks to everyone that came by to talk to us, or just passed by. What a lovely day you gave us.
If you're interested in checking out any of https://www.flintareawriters.org/ books, or joining our group, hit that link, we're interested in hearing from you.