An Ode to a Friend: How Knowing One Person Can Change your Life

[Butterfly]

An Ode to a Friend:  How Knowing One Person Can Change your Life
By Janet Mock
11 June, 2011


http://janetmock.com/2011/06/11/janet-mock-childhood-friend-wendi/


"There are key moments in a person's life when you just know your destiny is about to change. For me, this moment came when Wendi started taking female hormone pills."
    -Quote on Janet's friendship with Wendi from Marie Claire piece

When I first met Wendi in the 7th grade, she had a green mop of hair that bounced atop her head as she strutted through the halls, signaling her flamboyant arrival to school.

Wendi's bright hair was symbolic of her boldness, her fearlessness to stand out as we were all still trying to find ourselves. At age 12, I hadn't told anyone outside of myself that I knew I was a girl, but with one look, Wendi "read" me, nonverbally telling me that she saw every little desire I hadn't told anyone. And most importantly that it was okay and that she too had the same desires.