Watermark Books and Cafe

Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through is the story of a gay man, a straight woman and their journey through marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation - and creating a new way of being a family.

This unique love story, presented in two narrative voices, is the story of...

hope for families who are dealing with the coming out of a gay family member,

love that is stronger than the death of a marriage,

healing for families of faith who are hurting as someone they love acknowledges their true sexual orientation,

forgiveness for self and others,

peace, as a man and a woman whose vow to "speak and act in loving ways toward one another and about one another" for the sake of their children, paves the way for peace in family life,

responsibility, as a man and a woman resist the temptation to assign blame but rather take responsibility for themselves, theirs choices, their past, present and future,

release of prejudice, discrimination, rejection, pride, guilt, and childhood wounds,

acceptance of mystery and unanswerable questions,

memory as a pathway to coming out and healing from guilt and shame,

determination to live with love as the bottom line, no matter what,

joy in the unfolding of what family life can be.

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Joe Cobb lives in Roanoke, Virginia where he serves as a clergy with the Metropolitan Community Churches. A native of Kansas, Joe earned a BA in Philosophy from Southwestern College and a Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Raised in the United Methodist Church, Joe was called into ministry in 1981, and was ordained as a deacon in 1985, an elder in 1991 and served for 20 years in parish ministry. Five years after coming out, Joe was ordained in the Metropolity Community Church where he currently serves a growing community in SW Virginia. A creative spirit, Joe also enjoys writing and singing. Alongside his two young adult children, Emma and Taylor, he and his partner, James Matthews, have two young children, Ginny and JJ.

Leigh Anne Taylor resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains of SW Virginia where her family has lived for generations. Ordained in the United Methodist Church, she has worked as a church musician and musical director in Texas, Kansas and Virginia. Leigh Anne is a graduate of James Madison University and Southern Methodist University but feels that her most advanced degrees have been earned from the "school of life." She enjoys a lifelong interest in music, worship, spirituality and the symbolic language of dreams. She is married to Hugh Ballou and has two young adult children, Emma and Taylor.