Jerry Chasen's Blog

Shortly before writing this, the law firm I headed: a) was robbed; b) moved; c) dissolved; and d) was robbed again. I was also in a new relationship, way more suddenly than I’d planned after the 7 year relationship I had been in ended the previous July. Whew!

My nephew got married. Probably more traumatic for me than him–how could I have a nephew old enough to get married????

When Mark and I decided to have a commitment ceremony, it was immediately clear to me that I couldn’t recite anyone else’s words. So we explored what we wanted the ceremony to say, and then I wrote it. Written in rhyme (natch), the ceremony explores the nature of relationships, looking at traits common to none, some, all and specifically, ours. The entire ceremony was originally presented in a program book, and posted here are two posters made from the program book. The audio for this is done individually, so each section of the ceremony is recorded separately.

An award for community service to the Miami GLBT community has been given out for years–first from the Dade Human Rights Foundation, and more recently by the Task Force. In 2007, the award was renamed in honor of a longtime community leader and contributor, Eddy McIntyre, who died way before his time. I was the honored recipient of the first renamed award.

As it happens, the morning of the day on which the first Seder fell in 2009, was also the return to the skies at the time of creation. There’s tremendous power in “starting over”, especially when it’s conscious!