The Kids are Alright

It was an early January morning in Maine and the temperature outside was somewhere below zero. I don’t think it matters all that much once the mercury drops below freezing; it was cold.  I was sitting in my warm car trying to find the courage to walk across the parking lot and go inside.  I had cafeteria duty at the high school where I was a teacher for eight years.  During my tenure at this school and at all the other schools where I taught in my 19 year career I worked outwardly as a man, but that was all about to change.

Melting Snow

I sat in my warm car, hiding from the late winter wind that howled through the streets of Boston waiting for the right time to go into the club. The sun was setting and the city looked desperately attractive a week after an historic snowstorm.  It was a familiar place, but a very far different era.  It had been a long time since I was here, with a boyfriend, 25 years ago.  He was cute and playful,

Connect the Dots

Recently, after participating in panel discussion about gender and sexuality for high school students, a young woman, maybe 16-years old, hesitantly approached and thanked me for sharing my story.  I was touched by her compliment, and I could sense she wanted to say more.  With her friends by her side, she confided in me, that she recently came out to her family,

honey

who’s that girl
hiding behind her past
dressed in golden yellow
disguising a heart
that beats like a gazelle
hunted by a lion
chasing its tail

Out

I just watched a wonderful video of a high school student coming out to his classmates during a school assembly. Maybe you saw it too, it was all over the Internet.  He was receiving an award for his talent as an actor, and during his acceptance speech, shared that he was part of the LGBT community, and now he didn’t have to act straight anymore. 

She's a Lady

While not quite Lady Dowager's status, 
it's very affirming nonetheless.

The Pain I’m Used To

It’s like taking a lit cigar and burning my face, over and over again. As it’s happening, I twitch, sweat, and tear-up, but the pain is fleeting.  The heat only burns dark hairs, not my skin, that is unless you forget to remove your makeup, and then the laser burns your skin too, that happened once.  For those who have tried laser before, you know first-hand, the unique sensation of the intense heat searing hair follicles to their root; it’s like burning a hole in a leaf with a magnifying glass and the sun.