Sweet Evening Breeze

Over the weekend, LJ'er aceofspace came in for a visit. We goofed off on Friday, then drove to our hometown Saturday morning.

Our first stop in our hometown was to visit my mom at the nursing home. We found her doing a word search book in the common room by herself. It looks like the lunch rush had passed and she was just hanging out on her own.

During our discussion, she talked about how my dad used to joke about "Sweet Evening Breeze." Not knowing what that term meant, I asked her about it. Mom was dodgy on the topic and was whispering which made it even harder to hear her.

Based on what I could hear, I asked, "Is that a person?"

She replied in hushed tones, "Yes, you know, he was 'different.'"

"Different like me," I asked. Mom whispered that he was "gay."

I replied that "Sweet Evening Breeze" sounded like a drag queen name.

And it is! Sweet Evening Breeze was the drag persona of Lexington personality James Herndon, a very colorful, African American who was known to wear weomen's clothing in the 1950's. I was surprised to find this information online and pleasantly surprised to see that she was well-liked, even adored, in her native Lexington.

While I'm sure my dad joked about "Sweets" as she was referred to, the fact that he knew a drag queen in the 1950's impressed me a bit. I wish it were possible to ask my dad about her as he was always full of stories about the folks he met.

I never expected a drag history lesson at Mom's nursing home. It made for a fun visit.