Dear Charlie, Oliver, and Lucy,
I want you to know I love you and your mother more than anything on earth. It was not my choice to be absent from your lives. I hope you will find the writings and photographs I have uploaded on this website interesting and enlightening. It is all for you. I hope you are all having happy lives. I sure wish I could be part of them. As I’ve told your mother, I will always be here for you, my door has never closed.
You know, your papaw is gay. I knew it before I even knew the word. When I was a kid, my environment hid things from me that I and many others like me needed to understand our feelings. This deception lasted for a long time for me. It still happens today for kids who realize they’re queer and have no one to help them deal with their feelings. I grew up doing everything I was told by my church, school, and society to be someone I wasn’t. When I finally found myself, I was free from self-hatred and anxiety. These same actions are now banning books, labeling all queer people as molesters and freaks, making laws that reject people who are LGBTQ+, and teaching kids to disrespect queer people. They often do it in the name of God, but there’s no evidence to support what they say. I learned to research the truth instead of letting someone tell me their version of what they think the truth is.
I hope you’re all doing great and dreaming of exploring outside the beautiful East Tennessee countryside. The world is a vast and wonderful place, full of amazing lessons and opportunities to make a difference. There are people in need, and we can help them by feeding the poor, providing shelter for the homeless, and showing love to those who’ve been abandoned by their families. Let’s spread kindness and compassion wherever we go!
Yours in Faith, Hope and Love,
Papaw Poe
A message to my grandchildren…
“The afternoon knows what the morning never expected”
—Robert Frost
