As we’ve successfully moved through the holiday season, we are very fortunate to have had solidarity, support, kindness, love, and generosity showered upon our family, to make it a very special one. There were dozens of people reaching out to us this holiday season sending blessings for a great holiday, thanking us for our work, sharing happiness, and spreading cheer. The spirit of thankfulness has filled our hearts with joy and humbleness. It’s exciting to see people taking initiative to make direct action in a marginalized person’s life. That is what outreach is all about. Whether it’s helping facilitate a safe space, providing a listening ear, sharing personal stories, lifting up the voices of others, offering support or encouragement, or directly giving to a person in need. This is all very needed and valuable ways to contribute. As activists, Katherine and I love to see the different and creative ways people can come together to help others. Just today, in a parent’s group I am a part of, a parent had a surgery recently, lost their job today, and rent was due yesterday. The other parents were rallying a PayPal pool to help the parent keep their home. Helpers such as this are invaluable and irreplaceable. Unless you have been in the position of receiving help, you may not understand how life changing it can really be. Living in Las Vegas, we can forget having a white Christmas. We did take the kids on a walk-through with Santa, elves, lights, trains, and complete with fake snow. The kids enjoyed opening the presents very much; they were thrilled! This was our youngest child’s first Christmas housed, as well as the first family Christmas dinner as a family of four. It was truly a special time. We have made many precious memories playing with new toys, games, and craft activities the kids received. We have a great deal to be thankful for from the past year. This year has brought an income, a new home, wider outreach, and more direct action to not only others' lives through us but from others to us. It's been a year full of changes, in the world around us, plus in our own lives and situation. We are re-housed 7 months. We have had an outpouring of love and support throughout this year to aide our hard work to give us the extra boost we have needed at just the right times. We are extremely grateful for our outreach, each other, our friends, and chosen family. Thanks for being a part of our journey!! The first few days of this year have definitely been great; I hope it has for you and your family too. We are looking forward to what the rest of 2018 has in store for us. February will make two years Katherine has been with the lifeline. Jayden will be returning to school next Monday, she is very eager to start back. She is half way through her first year and doing great! Josh can barely wait to start school and will be turning four in April. Looking back over Facebook memories is the only way I have to look back at photos of our family, but it’s been neat to see the progress we’ve made in, our lives, our sobriety, our family, our marriage, and transitions. We are a family with three transgender folks, and each of us I feel are still coming into our own, the four of us get to grow together as a family unit, and as individuals and it’s such a beautiful thing to watch and experience. These three are my people, they are the ones I want to come home to after a negative incident. They are my safety, my comfort, my joy, my heart, my whole life, my reason for fighting for a better world. I am so looking forward to another year with my babies.
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Authors:James and Katherine are a transgender couple raising two kids. They were southerners when coming to understand themselves as trans. Ultimately it lead to a nearly three year road trip to find home. Now they are re-housed and still focused on outreach in the transgender community! Archives
October 2020
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