Los Angeles Times.comCompassion creates a family
A seriously ill young transgender woman and a middle-aged nun form a bond.By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times|September 7, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-unlikely-friends-20110907,0,5129195,full.storySister Margaret Farrell peers uncertainly over her shoulder as she tries to maneuver a lumbering minivan across several lanes of morning traffic on the Hollywood Freeway.
"I used to drive a cute little nun's car," she says, shaking her head.
Her 23-year-old passenger, Leane, chuckles and leans out the window to guide her.
They make a cheerful pair: the Irish nun and the transgender woman.
Audio slideshow: An unlikely friendship
Leane was kicked out of home at 13 and spent years cycling between group homes and the streets. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with late-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Her mother, she says, would have nothing to do with her. So Sister Margaret became the family she wished she had, ferrying her to hospital appointments and supporting her through months of grueling treatment.
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