Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is a good day. It's Carlos' birthday. And, since his favorite movie is Mame--he and his best girlfriend Benjamin argue over which one is Mame and which one is Vera--he'd want me to tell you that he is somewhere between forty................and death.

Carlos is that rare, wonderful find. Always positive, always congenial, always in a good mood.....not at all like me....we aren't so much two halves of the same coin, as we are two completely different monetary units. Night. Day. Classical. Pop. Maria Callas. Diana Ross.

Very different, and yet very good together.

But this is about Carlos, and who he is and what he's been through, and how, no matter what happens, he's like a Timex: he takes a licking and keeps on ticking....so he can keep on licking--I stole that from Will & Grace but it fits.

Carlos has had a lot thrown at him in his life; lots of things that would make most men crumble, gay or straight. But he perseveres, with a smile, and a cockeyed Ricky Ricardo turn of phrase.

He doesn't hold a grudge and rarely gets angry; he loves to talk; he loves to hold my hand when we're just sitting watching TV. He loves. I am the luckiest guy in the world to have met him and to be able to spend my life with him, so, today is his day, and I'm going to make it special for him, and I will see, and hear from, all you wonderful people, out there, in the dark, tomorrow.

If I could, I'd sing to the rooftops about this man, but I can't, so I'll let my girl Jennifer Hudson do it for me: