Wednesday night dinner and a loss of a dear sister.

I am writing this blog on Thursday for last night and as such I will start off about today. Early this morning my dear friend Cristine passed away peacefully. She had been in ICU for 14 days in critical condition. I did get to visit with her on Tuesday and even talk with her for a little while. I have had the privilege of knowing her for 9 years and I can say she helped me grow and changed my life. She touched so many peoples lives. The world is a little sadder place today but she will live on in our hearts. I am including some of my favorite memories of Cristine over the years.

It has been a tough couple weeks and it has really made me appreciate my wonderful friends. I really loo forward to spending time with them. Tonight we were going to the Old Time Pizza parlor downtown Portland. The group has been going here for a long time but I have never made it on the nights they went here so for me this will be a new place to go. I was looking forward to it. Now I know Cassandra will be there and also Bobbie. He is Cristine’s partner and has been by her side the whole time she has been in the hospital, day and night. Now I don’t make a lot of Wednesday night dinners but I am going to try and make more. Cassandra, Julie and Cristine were always the ones you could  count on being there. Cassandra and I were talking we may start doing a sign up for dinner just so we know there will be someone else there and no one shows up and finds themselves by them selves.

I got downtown early a little after 6 so I went to fox & Hounds. I sat at the bar and had a drink as I waited to see if anyone else would show up early. It was about 6:40 when Cassandra texted me and said she was going straight to the pizza place which is just around the corner. As I was getting ready to leave Bobbie showed up so we walked over together. We were the first ones there. Cassandra showed up about 7 and joined us.

WE talked a little about Cristine and got caught up on her condition. It was about 7:20 when we ordered dinner. It looked like it might just be the 3 of us. It was about 7:30 when Bambi, Kris and Danielle showed up. It was good to see them out. WE had a nice dinner and good conversation and yes a lot of it was about Cristine. Those of us who knew her know how big of an impact she had on our lives. She was our family as much as we were hers. Like so many in the Transgender community you can lose all your friends and family. Cassandra has done a lot the last couple weeks and we all thank her for her caring and willingness to help her.

By 9:15 all the girls had left but Cassandra and me. We sat there and kept talking, we talked till 10:15. We knew the odds were against Cristine but we were both hoping for a miracle. It was a good night out and we were hoping for the best.

As I said this morning Cristine passed away. She will be missed and I hope she knows how big of an impact she had not only on my life but so many people, she did touch so many lives. In the Transgender community we tend to stay isolated even with our closest friends. Some of my closest friends don’t know my real name and I don’t know theirs. We will have a celebration of life for Cristine on February 11th which I think will help a lot of our group. We will all miss you Cristine but you will always be with us in our hearts and thoughts.