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Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut

Friday, August 7, 2020

Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper

Jericho Candelarios Gay DebutJericho Candelario has spent his adult life helping to raise his siblings and his niece. His father is now sober, but between his past alcoholism, his PTSD, and his health, he wasn’t much help to the family after their mother left them.

For five years, Jerry has enjoyed spending time with Lincoln Lee, the openly gay owner of the local bakery. They spend several hours every week just talking and enjoying each other’s company, and that’s been fine, because Jerry has been busy. But now his younger siblings have moved out, his niece is a teenager and doing her own things, and Jerry unexpectedly has time on his hands.

Time he doesn’t know what to do with.

He and Jerry had argued once, in their way, about the difference between Lincoln working for his dream and doing what he loved, and why Jerry might be tired at the end of each day. Mostly, Lincoln had gotten loud, Jerry had gotten quiet, then said, “I love them. They’re my family,”

I don’t know what it was, but this story just hit me perfectly right now, and kept making me tear up, as Jerry struggled with coming to terms with how his life was changing, and feeling that he was too old to make something of himself.

he thought— or liked to think— Lincoln had learned to read the silences in between, the pause before he mentioned his mother, the revelation that they did not keep alcohol in their house.

Jerry is just so sweet. And Lincoln so clearly into him but Jerry has no frame of reference for anything, and so has no clue how to see that and tell Lincoln what he wants–partially because he believes he can’t really have what he wants.

It’s just lovely.

Rating: 9/10

 

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