Sarah and I joined our hostess and a friend in her hot tub after a robust and celebratory fireworks display over a lake at a friend’s house. The jets massaged my back (which I tweaked earlier at the new Top Golf facility in St. Petersburg) and did a splendiferous job of working away the previous days’ frenzy of activity. The conversation turned to politics and social issues, which I’m not ordinarily keen on discussing at social gatherings. However, this was a unique situation with perspectives I don’t get to hear a great deal, so I did much listening rather than talking or arguing.
To my left was Yanni, a self-described “conservative gay immigrant dad.” He was celebrating his 10th anniversary as an American on the 4th of July, which was both poignant and beautiful. He fled a communist regime to come to this country with a hundred bucks in his pocket and built a wonderful life for himself and his daughter. Hearing him express his love & gratitude for the freedoms America offers was fantastic. Then, he went down the road of saying he was