INTERLUDE III: GRAMS, BEING GAY, AND LOVE VS. FENTANYLMy first year in college, I told my grandmother I was gay.
I knew she still loved me. I knew I was as much a member of the family as ever. I know that’s not the case for a lot of kids when they come out to their families. So I knew I was lucky. But it still hurt to know that if she could, she’d change something so basic to the foundation of who I am. Maybe it doesn’t define me, but it sure as hell colors the way some people think about me. And so it sometimes colors the way I see myself.
Most people are straight. I get that. I also get that this means most straight people don’t put a whole lot of thought into what it means to be straight. And as wonderful as Gram has always been to me, as wonderful as she continued to be even after I
