Amazing Divine Appoinment

[Susan R]

tThis post is in regards to my coming out to my old friend and colleague 3 weeks ago and then hearing absolutely nothing afterwards.

 

I had an old friend from many years back email me a 'happy birthday' last week out of the blue.  I was very surprised.  We were always good friends for about 10 years  way back when during a previous life stage but I eventually moved  away but we still emailed on occasion.  As time passed, we began to slowly communicate via email less and less.  I'm sure many of you have had friends that you've lost this way.  With him, this eventually did happen

 

So as the story continues, in his email he asked a bunch of questions and talked about all the good times we once had.  He wanted to somehow get together if I'm ever visiting in his part of the world.  Well, I have since moved to within driving distance of him.  I had not yet shared any of this gender transitioning to him, his wife or his daughter.  If he knew where I lived he'd probably drive up to see me or at least meet me half way for dinner.

 

The next day after receiving his email, I decided to share everything with him in a long long letter.  In the letter, I went over all the good times we had in the past and then I got into some of the new changes in my life.  I then culminated with letting him know how special he and his family are and told him I would always love him as a friend no matter what his response would be to this letter.

 

I thought it was well written and I had others read it to make sure it was ok.  I sent the email and thought it might take a day or two to absorb all that was contained within that letter.  It's been 6 days and I've not heard anything from this person.  He's a conservative minded person so I thought I'd get some pushback in the worse case but I didn't expect to get complete silence.  Maybe it went to far too fast.  Oh well, life goes on I guess.

 

So today, two weeks later, out of the blue I finally receive an reply from him.  Here it is...

 

Hi, [my dead name].

 

I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to respond! I've been thinking of you a lot, and it was nice to hear that you've moved back to Washington and that you and the family are doing well!

 

As you can imagine, your news was a HUGE surprise! To be honest, I still haven't known quite how to acknowledge the changes in your life, so as you can undoubtedly imagine, I am still trying to process it and didn't know what to say. I am, however, very glad to hear that you've found the path that better fits you and that you are able to finally live as your true self!

 

Thank you for sharing your news with me - It must not always be easy and I appreciate that you trust our friendship enough to share. You will always be my friend, [my dead name], from the [my old company name] days. I hope that is okay.

 

Well, I did not reply this morning because of an appointment and I wanted some time to think about what I was going to say.

 

I'm waiting for my wife as I type this and still can't believe what just happened 20 mins. ago.

 

So the appointment for my wife is 45 miles South of us here in downtown Seattle.  We had to use a parking garage we normally don't use because the one under the building was full.  We parked and walked to my wife's appointment. We are waiting for the 'WALK' signal at an intersection.  On the other side of the street, I see on the corner waiting to cross towards us my good friend and colleague.  My wife asked me if that's him.  I said, "OMG Yes!"  I have not seen him in over 11 years.  He looked much older and moved much more slowly.  He didn't recognize us at first when we said his name.  We quickly found a place to sit and talk for half an hour.  He was blown away how much we had both changed.  We were so lucky to have arrived 20 mins early.  It was just like old times and we had the best talk.  if not for our obligations we would have talked for hours.  It was wonderful    He kept saying..."I can't believe it. I just emailed you back this morning and then this happens!"  I told him I would've replied but had a long drive to get to this appointment.  He is a translator and had some time to spare before his next appointment which was great!  My wife and I were still a few mins late for her appointment but it was worth every second.

 

He and his wife are joining us for dinner next week at my favorite restaurant.  I can not believe the turn of events.   What a wonderful little miracle.  I'm still in amazement at the unbelievable timing of it all.

 

Susan R?

[VickySGV]

Moving forward has its surprises, it is fun to hear about good and positive ones.

[Cyndee]

Time, distance, gender, and a friendship that was meant to be. Nice to read this outcome Susan. It's the big city downtown, what are chances here ?

 

C -

 

 

[Jani]

Susan this is a wonderful story.  Thank you for sharing.  Yes we all change and I'm happy your friend could recognize this was the right decision for you.  I'm sure you had a nice conversation after meeting up at the corner.  

 

Jani