From Leah Ferrer’s Celebration of Life, swipe to the next video to see the afterparty.
I was honored to join the hosting team of Randy, Elsa, Lani and Julien in dealing with the space, logistics and choreography. I’ve been chatting with some of the attendees over the past few days and I think Carol put it best: we’re all “heartsick”. Well, I have the flu too, but “heartsick” sounds a lot more romantic than “nose and lung sick” 🙂
After Tamara’s beautiful rendition of “Hallelujah” and Jacqui’s spirited sing-along of “Thank You for Being a Friend”, I fumbled my way through an impromptu speech at the beginning of the ceremony because I forgot that I had to write one (I’m obviously following in a line of Filipino-Americans who flub their opening monologues) but what I really wanted to convey was this: It’s a privilege to be able to steward a terminally ill friend through her Celebration of Life and her 50th birthday. For those who think this is weird, I want to remind you that queer folk did this during the height of the AIDS crisis when people knew they were living on borrowed time. That and…yes, it’s weird. Embrace that weirdness. That uncanny feeling you get when you’re faced with the conversation of death. That conversation that can easily be staved off by delivering platitudes and feigning immortality. I had the privilege of being surrounded by 212 people who leaned into that conversation, who love Leah and support her unequivocally. Not everyone on this earth can garner that kind of love and support and I believe that if you have a Leah in your life, you’re doing something right. We love you, Leah. ❤️
Click into the Instagram post to swipe between the two videos.