Mom and Mama: A "Target"-ed lesson

A few weeks ago while clothing shopping in Target, I overheard a teenage girl in the dressing room next to mine call for "Mom". A woman outside the door answered, and then a few minutes later a second voice addressed as "Mama" (inside the room) offered her opinion on the outfit. As I listened for a few minutes (its hard not to overhear dressing room conversations), it became clear to me that Mom and Mama were the girl's parents.

Intriguingly, this situation repeated itself a week later, also at this same Target, this time with a new "Mommy" and "Mama" and two young boys. I had to wonder whether Target had become the progressive spot to clothing shop in the greater Philadelphia area.

More interesting, though, was my reaction to the lesbian couples. When I saw the second couple together, my heart swelled and I felt something within me say, "This is what a family looks like." I was happy for those children, growing up in homes with two mothers. I know that probably sounds weird, but growing up in a home with a relatively absent mom, I can't help thinking it.

The situation also made me recognize that, in my mind, it seems more natural and obvious for two women to be married than it does for a man and a woman to be married to each other. Is that strange? Mr. Curie says that it probably just indicates where my natural inclinations lie, and that I just wasn't willing to admit it to myself earlier.

I reluctantly admit that seeing those lesbian couples together at Target, and again at the NYC Pride, made me feel a small twinge of jealousy. To have the love of another woman...

What a precious thing indeed.