I heard from an old friend for the first time in a while today, this first part I mentioned in the happy thread. The conversation began upbeat, and he asked the inevitable "so what's up?" type question. It amused me greatly to answer "well, I'm transitioning into a woman.". Fun for shock value! But I did so in this case knowing he is the single most progressive person I have ever met, so not really a big deal. That part all went well, and it was amazing to hear from him.
The unhappy part was as the conversation unfolded, I found out what's been happening with him in turn. I should say as well, that this is a guy whose life has eerily mirrored my own at times (in non trans ways), with strange coincidence after coincidence. Unfortunately, this extends to our mothers and cancer. Shortly after mine passed away, his mother was diagnosed. I won't go into full details, but since I last spoke to him he lost his younger brother, which then sent his mother on a downward spiral with her cancer and she passed away too. It truly broke my heart, and I've always feared losing my younger brother so really hit me personally as another parallel(in the sense that I can relate). Then to top it all off, he got screwed over at his job, and is overqualified so having trouble finding a new one.
He's always been a great person, and it absolutely kills me life has just been kicking him around lately. But still, he seems to be surviving despite it all.
