I can be kind of a cynical person, and sometimes I see things–like the idea of “President Gingrich“–that make me think the future is just doomed. Then things happen that make me think, hey, the future might be OK. Like when we elected that black guy President. Or when people realized that the Newt Gingrich running for president was THAT Newt Gingrich, the disgusting space-pig that resigned in disgrace back in the Nineties, and not some other guy with that same perfectly common name. But nothing recently has made me think, maybe things have changed–for a little bit, at least–for the better quite like this picture of a traditional Navy homecoming at a pier in Virginia Beach.
When a Navy ship returns home, traditionally one sailor is chosen, typically through a raffle, to be the first one off. That sailor kisses their loved one, maybe sees a baby for the first time. It’s a sweet moment. On Wednesday, the first lucky sailor off the USS Oak Hill was raffle-winner Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta. She kissed her girlfriend Citlalic Snell, also a Navy petty officer stationed on the USS Bainbridge, resulting in the most heartwarming non-kitten-related picture you will see on the internet today. A time-honored Navy tradition, calmly and without fuss, included a same-sex couple. Maybe things are getting better.
