Our next Community Project gathering will be a barbecue at the home of Susan and Lydia Smith-Franks in Hamden. The barbecue/potluck will be on Memorial Day Monday, beginning around 3:00 pm.
As always, all are welcome.
If you are interested in coming but aren't on the Community Project email list, let me know and I'll give you directions to the gathering. Email me at kristinmattocks@yahoo.com
Looking forward to seeing everyone again!
My daughter's preschool in New Haven is having its annual Spring Fair fundraiser this Saturday, May 17th. If you have young kids, and you're looking for something to do on Saturday morning/afternoon, please stop by for a few hours. There's lots of fun stuff to do--pony rides, food, crafts, games, and a tag sale with lots of kids items.
The flyer for the event is here, in case you're considering comin' on down...Download leila_day_spring_fair.pdf
One of the great things about the Community Project so far is that it has brought together a wonderful mix of gay and lesbian folks in Connecticut. Most people have kids, but a good number don't. Some of those that don't are considering parenthood, while others are sympathetic to our cause but aren't interested in becoming parents.
Among those that are parents, we have parents that have four kids, and soon-to-be parents, who are expecting their first child, either through pregnancy or adoption. We have parents in their 40s and 50s, and parents in their 20s. We have single parents, two-parent families, and three parent families. We have folks that live in and around New Haven, and folks that live throughout Connecticut.
One of the great couples I've met is Jeffrey and Kevin. Read their profile below, and look to meet them at our next gathering. They really are a great couple, and I look forward to dishing all kinds of parenting advice when their adoption goes through later this year.
Proof that internet dating can actually work, Kevin and Jeffrey met on
Match.com two years ago. It was the first internet date for both of
them and an instant match. Jeffrey is originally from small town Oregon
and Kevin from a small island off the Virginia coast.
Yale brought Jeffrey to New Haven and Kevin was quick to follow although he still
commutes into Manhattan daily for work. Last June they bought a home
in Westville where they successfully integrated a cat and dog, Kitty and
Eli.
They are nearing the end of their home study process and are excited
about taking the next steps toward adoption. In the meantime they
secretly contemplate kidnapping their friends Lisa and Juli's twins (see them below with
the twins).
First, Saturday, May 17th marks 'opening day' for CitySeed, which is the New Haven farmer's market. We make a regular date on Saturday mornings to visit the farmer's market and then head over to the playground in Worcester Square to let the kids play and hang out with friends. It would be great to meet other Community Project families for the farmer's market and to hang out and drink coffee. Put this on your calendars for the rest of the summer--if you haven't yet been to this farmer's market, you've gotta check it out.
Second, a couple of upcoming events in June worth mentioning. We are planning a joint gathering with WeWok (We are Everywhere With Our Kids) on June 21st at the Mystic Seaport. This will be a great opportunity to hang out with queer families from Southeastern Connecticut, and check out the Seaport area if you haven't yet been (which I haven't). I'm really looking forward to this.
Finally, Love Makes A Family is hosting a fun Mexican fiesta event in Guilford on June 29th. It sounds like it will be a fancy fundraiser (I'm thinking a nice thing to do sans kids), so plan on getting a babysitter between the hours of 3-6 on the 29th. I'll send out more details as they become available, but do keep the date open.
Just when you think you're making headway in the world of gay and lesbian parenting, somebody writes a book like this.
Ugh.
Our next gathering (weather permitting) will be this Saturday, May 10th, at Lake Compounce. For those interested in coming, let's meet at the entrance gate (after the ticketing booth) around 11:00 am.
To purchase tickets ahead of time, visit this link.
Please RSVP here, so I can get a sense of who is planning on coming.
Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend!
I thought I would start a new feature for this group by giving faces and names to some of our members. One of the most important things I want to come out of this group is to give all of you a sense of community with others who are gay and lesbian parents (or those considering parenthood, or those not considering parenthood but interested in our community). Our monthly gatherings help facilitate this sense of community, but I also think gaining a sense of who else is in our group, when we're not together, will also be instructive.
I'm kicking the Community Project Profile off with a close-up of two of my dear friends, and their babies, who are members of our group. I asked them to write a little something about themselves, and I'm also providing some pictures to familiarize you with them. Let me say that I take extra pride in Lisa and Juli and their two babies because I set them up on their first date, not so many years ago...
Lisa (below, right) was born in England and moved to Wallingford when she was 5 years old. While she's moved around some (California, Arizona), she just can't stay away from CT. Juli was born and raised in East Haven and then left for school in Texas and Virginia for 8 years before returning to CT.
The couple officially met with help from Kim and Kristin via soccer connections shortly after a sudden death penalty shootout ina tournament. After two attempts on Juli's life by Lisa serving shellfish for dinner and then trying to provide red cough syrup (food allegies/intolerances for Juli), they decided that they would become a serious couple!
Less than 2 years later, they made the decision to have children by in vitro ferilization, using Lisa's eggs and Juli carrying. They had their civil union on August 15th, 2008, two months after getting pregnant. Lisa is at home right now contemplating a new career path and taking care of Riley and Chase (born 2/4/08). Juli will return to work as the Assistant Director of a child guidance clinic (AKA: clinical social work).
Many of you know Rachel Pepper from her amazing book, The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians (or at least those of us that read it from cover to cover to figure out how to get pregnant do).
However, what you may not know is that Rachel is living here in New Haven, and is a member of our Connecticut Community Project. And, you also may not know that Rachel is a regular contributor to Curve Magazine, and has graciously shared her most recent article with us.
You can see her article below and you'll love it, I promise. Much thanks to Rachel, and to Curve Magazine, for sharing this piece with us.
To give Rachel kudos and feedback on her book or this article, contact her here.
We had an impromptou gathering at the West Haven beach last week after work. I work not too far from the beach, and its an easy place to meet the kids after work for fried food and kite flying. Given the late notice, it was great that we had nearly 15 people show up. The kids are really starting to know each other and play together, which delights me to no end.
Pictures are here, and the password is ourfamilies.
We also ran into Jody and Mendy, Rachel Pepper, and some other folks in the CommunityProject at Hamden's Earth Day celebration. Its nice to start to see other folks we know out and about and share our connection.
I'm still planning that our next gathering will be at Lake Compounce in Bristol on Saturday, May 10th (let's say 11:00). Its a great place for kids (and adults) of all ages, so it seems like a good place for us all to get together. I'll send out an invitation of sorts so I know who to expect, and we'll set up a meeting place and exchange phone numbers so we can find each other.
Finally, I can't help but share this article. From now on, everytime I think its hard to be a lesbian parent, I'll think of all this couple must have gone through in the past couple of years. I've got nothing on them.
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