Valerie's Visit
Well, Valerie finally visited us here in Western Pennsylvania. Valerie is not her real name; it has been changed to protect the guilty. It was great to finally meet her in person. She is very sweet and very attractive. What a wardrobe the girl has, and she only brought one percent of it: dresses, skirts, nightgowns, slips, jewelry, and enough make-up to start up her own Avon lady business. We got her a motel room, and I got my exercise for the day just helping her cart her belongings up two flights of stairs. Then we went and hung out by the Youghiogheny River at Cedar Creek Park. I took her on a tour of my jogging routes, and she couldn’t believe it. The car could barely get up the hills. How did I jog up them? Then we went to Eatn’ Park in Monongahela. I showed her the building on the hill above Eatn’ Park and explained that Joe Montana went to high school in that building.
It was dusk when we were through eating. Valerie is well known as a photographer of ghosts, so we were off to Round Hill Cemetery to take pictures of ghosts. I showed her the church I grew up in and still attend Saturday nights. We went to the grave of the two Theodosias, a mother and daughter, where I got my e-mail address. We took pictures with her fancy digital camera, and sure enough, two shadowy figures were floating above the tombstones. This is the very old part of the cemetery from the late 1700’s. We were fantasizing what we would say if Rev. Meek saw us. "Hi, Rev. Meek, meet my transgender friend Valerie. We’re just here hanging out by Theodosia’s grave taking pictures of ghosts!"
Then we went to another spooky late 1700’s Methodist cemetery where my great great great great grandfather, Thomas Thomas, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, is buried. In that day and age, the Methodists were the fire and brimstone fanatics, so the people buried in this section were VERY religious. Anyway, we took a picture of Tommy Thomas’ grave, and there beside it sat a ghost cat. We took the picture over and over, and the cat appeared each time. Then Valerie’s camera went haywire until we moved away. The cat did not appear to the naked eye, only on the processed digital picture.
After that, we went back to the motel room. We had a great time. Valerie showed me her whole wardrobe. I’d seen many of these outfits in pictures. We tried on some things. She got all dressed up and looked great. We took pictures of ourselves in various get ups. We plugged in her laptop and got online. I e-mailed JimmieLee (who thought Valerie would get cold feet and never come), and then we got in the Transland chat. They thought we were totally crazy. Then JimmieLee messaged us, and we were so excited. We each took turns chatting with her until the battery went dead.
This morning, I went back to help Valerie cart her belongings back down to her beloved car. We had some time before checkout, so Valerie and I looked through the pictures we’d taken of me and her. We looked at the picture of Tommy Thomas’ grave, and we couldn’t see the cat, but we could see a gray shadowy smoky image where the cat had been. Valerie also showed me dozens of other pictures of her and a couple web sites she’d started. She is quite the organizer. She has one web site with over 300 members and another one with over 60. I showed her Rev. Erin Swenson’s web site. She threatened to e-mail Erin and tell her the truth about me, which most certainly would get me kicked out of the Presbyterian Church!
We then went out to breakfast. Valerie does have to dress male in public, unfortunately, or at least now she feels she must do that. We joked a lot about bathrooms. When we went to the bathroom on the way out, I asked her which one she was going in, and she said, "Which one am I ALLOWED to go in?" When she is dressed as a male, she is sadder, and has some sad stories about her life to tell. She’s a different person dressed up as female, and is much happier.
I drove her back to her car, and we hugged and hugged good-by. It was sad to see her go, but it’s good we live in the same state. We can always meet each other in Breezewood with very little trouble if we just HAVE to see each other. The time together seemed too short. I’m being very melodramatic here because we e-mail each other, message each other, and talk on the phone all the time. It’s not like she lives in Baghdad! But it was sad to see her go, and I’m so glad she came. We had so much fun!
It was dusk when we were through eating. Valerie is well known as a photographer of ghosts, so we were off to Round Hill Cemetery to take pictures of ghosts. I showed her the church I grew up in and still attend Saturday nights. We went to the grave of the two Theodosias, a mother and daughter, where I got my e-mail address. We took pictures with her fancy digital camera, and sure enough, two shadowy figures were floating above the tombstones. This is the very old part of the cemetery from the late 1700’s. We were fantasizing what we would say if Rev. Meek saw us. "Hi, Rev. Meek, meet my transgender friend Valerie. We’re just here hanging out by Theodosia’s grave taking pictures of ghosts!"
Then we went to another spooky late 1700’s Methodist cemetery where my great great great great grandfather, Thomas Thomas, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, is buried. In that day and age, the Methodists were the fire and brimstone fanatics, so the people buried in this section were VERY religious. Anyway, we took a picture of Tommy Thomas’ grave, and there beside it sat a ghost cat. We took the picture over and over, and the cat appeared each time. Then Valerie’s camera went haywire until we moved away. The cat did not appear to the naked eye, only on the processed digital picture.
After that, we went back to the motel room. We had a great time. Valerie showed me her whole wardrobe. I’d seen many of these outfits in pictures. We tried on some things. She got all dressed up and looked great. We took pictures of ourselves in various get ups. We plugged in her laptop and got online. I e-mailed JimmieLee (who thought Valerie would get cold feet and never come), and then we got in the Transland chat. They thought we were totally crazy. Then JimmieLee messaged us, and we were so excited. We each took turns chatting with her until the battery went dead.
This morning, I went back to help Valerie cart her belongings back down to her beloved car. We had some time before checkout, so Valerie and I looked through the pictures we’d taken of me and her. We looked at the picture of Tommy Thomas’ grave, and we couldn’t see the cat, but we could see a gray shadowy smoky image where the cat had been. Valerie also showed me dozens of other pictures of her and a couple web sites she’d started. She is quite the organizer. She has one web site with over 300 members and another one with over 60. I showed her Rev. Erin Swenson’s web site. She threatened to e-mail Erin and tell her the truth about me, which most certainly would get me kicked out of the Presbyterian Church!
We then went out to breakfast. Valerie does have to dress male in public, unfortunately, or at least now she feels she must do that. We joked a lot about bathrooms. When we went to the bathroom on the way out, I asked her which one she was going in, and she said, "Which one am I ALLOWED to go in?" When she is dressed as a male, she is sadder, and has some sad stories about her life to tell. She’s a different person dressed up as female, and is much happier.
I drove her back to her car, and we hugged and hugged good-by. It was sad to see her go, but it’s good we live in the same state. We can always meet each other in Breezewood with very little trouble if we just HAVE to see each other. The time together seemed too short. I’m being very melodramatic here because we e-mail each other, message each other, and talk on the phone all the time. It’s not like she lives in Baghdad! But it was sad to see her go, and I’m so glad she came. We had so much fun!
posted by Theodosia @ 9:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home