(7/7) “Mickey’s memorial was well attended. There had been an...

(7/7) “Mickey’s memorial was well attended. There had been an article about his death in the newspaper, and the art critic had written: ‘The palms aren’t swaying quite as much as they used to.’ I walked through the crowd at his service, greeting everyone, and thanking them for coming. One of the attendees was the woman who’d commissioned Mickey’s final mural, who happened to be on the board of the Austin Museum of Art. Even in his death, I couldn’t stop promoting him. So I asked her: ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the museum hosted a memorial show?’ I think I put the poor woman on the spot. But she promised to look into it, and called me the next day to tell me they’d found an available room.  Mickey’s show ran for a week. His paintings looked so beautiful on the walls. It felt like his work was finally where it had always belonged. There was only one last thing that I wanted to do. And it took me forever, because I couldn’t remember the name of the place. I just kept googling all the details that I could remember: Puerto Vallarta, guesthouse, Silver. Until it finally came up, and I booked myself a room. I took the trip alone. To be there with Mickey. The guesthouse was on a little cobblestone road. It was next to a small alley, with a little gate, and a thousand little steps leading down to the ocean. The first thing I did when I got to my room was open the doors to the balcony. And the view stopped me in my tracks: the ocean was framed by two giant palms. It was the mural from the basement.  Mickey had been here before, with Michael. During that magical time when they were madly in love. And nobody had heard of something called AIDS. They had sat on this same balcony. And I felt with all my soul that they were with me once again. Mickey gave an interview once, and I have an audio recording of this. The woman asked him: ‘Why do you only paint palm trees?’ He let out a laugh, and said: ‘Because they’re phalluses.’ But then he grew serious. And he said: ‘Palms represent life to me. If you see one on the beach, there’s coconuts. And if you see one in the desert, there’s an oasis. Because wherever there is a palm, there is life.”