I had been looking forward to the social as this was my first social since my surgery so I'm ashamed to say that my first reaction was to ask her to wait. But seeing that she was so upset and wanting to be there for her and not appear selfish I asked her to tell me now.
She took as deep breath and told me that one of the facilitators of our weekly trans support group had passed away in her sleep the previous night. Her fiance found her home in her bed that morning. She was such a dynamo and a force to be reckoned with. Young, pretty, always happy and very supportive of those that were being oppressed with a special focus on veterans and those dealing with Gender Identity Disorder (GID).
Spending some time on our cell phones Rebecca and I arranged a meeting at a coffee place with people from our support group that we could get together and grieve.
It hit me really hard at a time that I should have been intensely happy. There were other people in the pipeline at the time, including my friend Rebecca. As far as I know, I was the first and only person that had she had helped get through transition from male to female including surgery.
At her funeral today, the chapel was overflowing with people, to the point that the chapel had to use a video camera and display the service on televisions in remote rooms. There were people standing in the hallway and even outside. I even ran into a friend there that also knew her even though neither of us were aware that the other knew her! My friend had worked with her father for years!
I only got to see her one time after just just twelve days surgery due to the holiday break. The way her face lit up and the pride she felt for her part in helping with my transition will always hold a special memory for me.
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