[Magdalen] Thanksgiving morning

[Judy Fleener]

Praying, Kristin.

On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 7:04 AM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

> Praying for you, Kristin.
> Ginga
>
> On Thu, Nov 27, 2014 at 6:00 AM, Kristin Rollins <kristin at verumsolum.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I write from the darkness of a hotel room. Hotels are one of the rare
> > times I am annoyed by my internal clock being so different from my
> > wife's. Because there is so little to do that won't risk disturbing her
> > sleep. Even worse, this time I forgot my Bluetooth headphones, so
> > podcasts and radio listening are out.
> >
> > I am also quite nervous. We are having Thanksgiving dinner with members
> > of Heather's father's side of the family. I don't believe he and my
> > mother-in-law will be present, as they hurriedly prepare a second
> > location of their store for its opening day: Black Friday. (Yes,
> > really.) So I expect that the only person I will have previously met in
> > person today will be Heather. (One or two of them have friended me on
> > Facebook, but any interaction we've had there has been pretty
> > superficial.)
> >
> > And to top it off, Heather's family has not yet been told of my news.
> > And Thanksgiving is obviously not the day for that (as I remembered last
> > month when I delayed coming out to my father because it was Canadian
> > Thanksgiving). So I am "introducing myself" to people I have never met
> > before, while hiding who I really am, and answering to an old name and
> > perceived gender. I know it is the right decision in the circumstances
> > of this situation, but of course it isn't easy, and the pre-dawn
> > darkness doesn't help as I sit, the only person awake in the room for
> > hours.
> >
> > I know there are others who have it worse than I do. But there are so
> > many "if onlys" in this situation that I don't dwell on, but are so easy
> > to pop up unbidden. If only I had met these people before today. If only
> > time hadn't gotten away, and we'd managed to tell my in-laws before it
> > was too late for today. But the plan is only to be there for a few
> > hours. We have a hotel room about a half-hour, I think, from where the
> > family is gathering. Mealtime is expected to be an hour or two after we
> > get there. And when we leave, I can relax.
> >
> > It's one day. I've done it before. It won't be the end of the world. But
> > I'm really not looking forward to dancing around questions with awkward
> > answers posed by mostly complete strangers.
> >
> > --
> >   Kristin Rollins
> >   kristin at verumsolum.com
> >   Portsmouth, VA
> >
>



-- 
Judy Fleener, ObJN
Western Michigan