Being old has a way of changing perspective. I view things differently than I did 20 years ago when I first came on line…
Sober for the last 16 years.
I gave up fighting with people over words used to describe a shared aspect of our lives. You have your words, I have mine.
I’ve traded engagement for detachment, politics for the quiet joys of simply living out my final years with someone I deeply love.
Yes I am disappointed by the results of the election. But that has been the case many times before. I first voted in 1968 and over the years have been more disappointed than not.
I do not march or go to street protests anymore. I’m too slow to run, too poor to deal with either an injury or an arrest.
Posts on Facebook reminded me that it is that time of year, when people gather to remember transfolks, actually transwomen who have been murdered over the course of the last year.
Somehow we are supposed to feel connected, part of a “community” but I don’t feel a tribal connection, a bond.
Instead as I think back over the last year I think of artists I liked who passed away. Leonard Cohen, Mose Allison, Leon Russell, Guy Clark, Merle Haggard.
I think of friends and family members some of whom passed away this last year. Some battling cancer and surprising even their doctors.
I think of the friends both human and four legged who have passed away and how I miss them.
It is autumn, even here in Texas, the days are short.
Instead of mourning those I do not know I look forward to Thanksgiving when we will entertain an old friend.
Breaking bread, sharing stories about our ailments, remembering friends who passed away when they were way too young.
While the Day of Remembrance for murdered transwomen fails to personally resonate doesn’t make it a bad thing. When I passed the torch of activism on a few years ago I was glad there were people there to take up the battles.
Indeed there are some ideas of special days I really like. Thanksgiving, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. A Day of Remembrance fits in there.
Women Born Transsexual 
November 18, 2016 at 1:02 am
Thanksgiving is a favorite day around here. Lisa and I do not have much but we have everything.
We will spend the day with family, genuine friends, good food, good neighbors, and — of course — our wonderful dog. After that comes relaxation, leftovers, books, music, and films. To sleep and, as always, to dream on, baby.