There is the obligatory astonishment at how much we've grown. Surprise and joy that I have begun to play the trumpet. By this time, there are many women, swimming in groups around us, each turning her head to hear Suede's booming voice. She is a powerful woman. My mother's crowd has always told me, without words, that someday I will be powerful too.
Suede has to leave because the entertainment is about to start.
We are near the front of the crowd as it funnels slowly into an enclosed ampitheater. We settle down on huge cement benches which fan out across the room. They are, in fact, not benches, but giant's stairs, leading up, away from the small stage below. They sit and joke about life, mostly about gay life. Some have come in groups of four, double dates.