Herb met me at my office for an early morning meeting. Both of us were requiring coffee before we could really get started so I led him next door to Grace House, our shelter for men, down a hallway and into the kitchen where there were steaming pots of the morning elixir.
When we entered, there was a tall slender, feminine black man who was washing the dishes left over from breakfast. He was humming and singing to himself as we came into the room. Long straight black hair fell upon his shoulders and the eye liner on his face accentuated his large brown eyes. He wore a fluffy pink bath robe and matching bunny slippers.
"Good Morning Mr. Elliott," he sang.
Herb stopped dead in his tracks. I replied with my own good morning wish and poured two cups of steaming coffee.
"Have a good day Mr. Elliott," he sang as we left.
When we got into the conference room and sat down, Herb took one sip of coffee staring at me as he did so.
"Was that a man?" he asked.
"For the moment," I replied.
That was several years ago. Last night I was at the Don & Kaye Kole Center, a home for women with addictions. The Ruby Show was filming an episode with the ladies who live there, including one transgender person who, as far as I know, is the only Union Mission resident to successful complete Grace House to move into a center for women.
Anyway, I greeted all of the excited ladies who were thrilled at the prospect of being on national television. Ruby entered and seemed like most everybody else and they all got along and cooked. The only difference is that there were television cameras and lights shinning on everything.
I couldn't help but marvel at this work. I see transformations of all kinds taking place every day. Some stand out much more than others. But I cannot think of a happier way to end a happy week with watching people celebrate the fact that they are finally becoming who they want to. I hope that all of us get to do as much.
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