Those of you who sensed that being a husband and father had always been a struggle for ROLAND

ROLAND star maker

were correct.

Last night I learned that a (metaphorical) sensational tsunami had hit his family.

But first, recall that #1 son had three children

#1 son’s three beautiful children

and that so far we have only had a peek into the lives of two of them.  The third, the  boy in the centre of the family photo above, has grown into adulthood unheralded, mainly because he has not favoured his parents with a society wedding or offspring. This is all the more surprising to observers of the family as he’s definitely attractive and has really nice manners. He’s become “the unattached uncle”.  You’re getting it.  Sounds like “confirmed bachelor”, doesn’t it?  We all know what that’s a euphemism for.

Now back to last night…….

It was a family birthday party involving the formerly glamorous (+), now a little bit faded, second daughter (wife of ROLAND):

Our publicity shot of daughter #2

(+ the publicity shot records our second daughter AFTER orthodontic work, lots of ballet and gymnastic training and , yes, some surgery.)

It should have been wonderful. All three of her children were around her (albeit her son kept disappearing to scratch at his exzema and the girls were missing for extended periods that appeared to coincide with the arrival of the Suburban Studs).

ROLAND was as dutifully attentive as usual.

Her parents

#1 Son takes a wife

basked in their sense of dynastic achievement. Momentarily….

Perhaps it was the depressive effect of alcohol on the unattached uncle who drank because there seemed nothing else to do….  Perhaps it was that the incipient loneliness of ROLAND hit home to him at last as he watched his wife performing for a non-existent audience and ignoring the family around her.

Whatever, and however, ROLAND and his brother-in-law,  the unattached uncle, both found themselves in the role of “always in the kitchen at parties”*** .

***http://www.metrolyrics.com/youll-always-find-me-in-the-kitchen-at-parties-lyrics-jona-lewie.html

Result: sensational tsunami.

Caught!

I know that there will be fallout over this.  Inevitably.  It’s predictable but I feel a decent interval should follow.  I don’t want to be TOO intrusive……but I think a (quiet) celebration is in order.

Whether that celebration involves anything formal is, in the short term, in the hands of the Australian Government (aka Prime Minister Tony Abbott), which currently accords little recognition to gay leaves.  Indeed leaves like ROLAND and the unattached uncle are not even regarded as ordinary leaves with rights.  Spoiler alert Tony: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

I’ll spell it out.  Substitute “leaf” for “duck”.  Real leaves have rights.

Of course, in the event of a change of government, the Labor Party has promised marriage equality (platform announcement at ALP national conference on 26 July 2015).

Watch this space.