"the" Mrs. Astor

Monday, October 16, 2006

Refugees

Being from New England--and this goes for America in general--I was always surrounded by works for charity. There were the ubiquitous cake sales (did anyone ever really eat those bunt cakes?), the car washes, the candy selling (a few did fall the the cracks, but I later learned to call that "shrinkage"), and on and on. So, it is only natural that I spurred on the gang for pet benefits, sick draq queen fund-raisers, and our new-found interest: Refugee Young Men. (It may be toungue-in-cheek, but we have to keep busy.) All of these boys have good jobs, and they all came from a terrible situation. Our current charges:
Abbi came to Miami from Lebanon, and I have had to take him from the care of Thomas Barker. Barker holds too many "free drink" tickets to be not only a threat to morality, but a bigger one to my not getting free drinks forever.






Ethan is the serious one from Israel (although you catch a glimpse of an hidden humor when you make a crack that can be taken two ways). He is very, very bright. As Barker told me, "He says he'd rather be here than bulldozing down homes". Wouldn't we all.





And, Jarid has been stopping by for three weeks now and had to be elected, too, as he left New Orleans after Katrina, first for New York, and now to Miami. We gather every Sunday now, some for a while, others for just a "hello". But we feel safe in each others' company even though bad things are happening everywhere.

7 Comments:

At 9:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am proud to be "doing" these boys a service ... LOVE MY REFUGEES

 
At 9:46 PM, Blogger Black and Tan Mark said...

How ironic it is that the Palace has its own diaspora too. Some boys come from a world away - others from a few blocks down street. Change can be good!

 
At 11:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was sooooo sad I missed the table! Still working on our UN application so we can get more funding and help more needy children lol :).
--mikey
PS-- I can't wait til the Captain comes back so he can provide guidance as to how we can make sure the aid gets to the refugees!

 
At 12:27 AM, Blogger Jesse said...

Oh wow - I really need to be there to welcome these new boys to the group! :-)

(When I'm not too busy with Hillary, that is! :P~)

 
At 6:50 AM, Blogger The Bum said...

My partner, our dog and I love Ethan. He's our new favorite boy to play with on Lincoln Road!

 
At 7:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Please accept my apologies for not being able to attend this welcoming party to our friendly and cute Refugees. As you know, Football season is taking time away from my gayness and I certainly will honestly state that due to the losing streak of our local teams, I have no choice but to resurface as the proud Cuban Gay Man that I am. Mrs. Astor, please accept my apologies...

 
At 12:01 PM, Blogger The INFOSEC Consultant said...

A proud tradition of embracing refugees continues (it brings a tear to the eye...)

 

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