Coming OUT Of The Doll Closet or We Found LOVE In A HOPEFUL Place....

HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE!

My partner and I just got back into town this early afternoon after spending the NYE holiday with friends in their cabin at a campground in upper Central Florida! A great time was had by all...and even better yet we were able to drink Champagne this year up to our nipples without worrying about drinking and driving! All we had to do was stagger back to the cabin and collapse! Now that is how to bring in the New Year...with no stress or drama!

When we got home, since we'd been gone for a couple of days there were some purchases we had made from eBay and IT Direct at our front door! Wow...could things get any better. So, I quickly opened the boxes and found a DG treasure - the workshop outfit with the leather and fur coat that I had been wanting since the convention! Eureka! I had plans for that outfit...I knew the PERFECT doll for it! I quickly removed the outfit off of Color Infusion Amelie (she looks like pop singer Rhianna to me) and started to redress her in this awesome and edgy outfit!

While I was dressing her, Rhianna's new single "We Found Love" was playing in the background on my I-Pod and I started thinking back to just a few days ago when my partner's parents came up to visit for between Christmas and NYE. They had been wanting to visit our home for some time and finally made good on the threat to drive up from Miami (approx 3.5 hours). My partner was a basket case. In 20 years of being together, they had only visited our home a handful of times and always for just a couple of hours. This time not only were they going to stay for a couple of days, but they were going to want to see the whole NEW HOUSE. This of course meant....wait for it....they would for the first time see....tum-tum-TADA– THE DOLL ROOM! The doll collectibles room (which also double as my office) has been something that my partner has always been a bit squeamish about sharing with his ultra conservative parents. He felt it was going to be too much for them to take in and that they were going it find it...well....weird. Back, in the day, when our relationship was young, I used to feel horrible about him making me hide parts of my life for the sake of his embarrassment. It made me feel as if he was not proud of me and our relationship. But, I keep the doll's "in the closet" because to me saving him undo anxiety was worth it.

Well, all that has changed. HIS PARENT FINALLY GOT A TOUR OF THE DOLL ROOM! And, to his surprise - THEY LOVED IT! His mother (who is really one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met... and I must say, I've come to love and appreciate immensely) pulled out her digital camera and started snapping pictures of all my doll curios. She even asked Peter and I to pose alongside several of them. They were overwhelmed...not unlike that seen in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory when Mr. Wonka opens the dolls to the factory and the forrest of candy is revealed! His mom asked me how long I'd been collecting and I responded,"20 years". She then said,"Why have you kept this a secret from us for so long?" I said,"We just didn't think that you would understand my love of fashion doll and designing for them. We just didn't think you would be proud of us." She looked at me with tears glistening in her eyes and said,"We will ALWAYS be proud of you BOTH. Your dolls are beautiful, They are your canvas for creativity and your joy. It shows in the way that you lovingly display them. I love them and YOU!"
We both hugged in the middle of my doll room and another milestone had been passed.

I know many of us collect "in the closet" from our friends, family and co-workers. Guys who collect dolls are ridiculed and made to feel ashamed of loving their dolls. I say - ENOUGH! Come out of the doll closet....live your passion out in the open along with everything else that is wonderful and special about you as a person. If people don't understand...THAT IS THEIR PROBLEM. Live YOUR bliss! We are NOT doing anything wrong by loving our dolls and no one else in our life has the right to judge or belittle us for it. Dolls are a thing of beauty....and ALL beauty should be shared openly in the light of day!