So I met an Ewok.. and a bunch of other women. I went to another Meetup outing with my women’s group. I mentioned earlier in the year that I was intentionally taking steps to be more social. It has been an amazing ride. I keep making new friends and most of them end up being people that I hang out with even outside of the Meetup events. This particular event was a private screening of the movie Bad Moms. It was a hilarious movie and we all had a great time. The theater was filled with movie collectibles. I snapped the picture with my new Ewok friend as I was exiting the theater. Here is a photo of some of us at the event:

After the movie, I stopped at a Trader Joe’s to get some groceries. I was wearing my favorite summer dress (another Goodwill purchase!). At the checkout, the cashier and I were talking about the great weather and I told her that I wish I could enjoy more of it that day but that I still had some unpacking to do from recently moving. She smiled and said, “You know what, hold on one minute.” She stepped away for a moment and came back with a pretty flower that kind of matched the ones on my dress. She said, “Please accept this as a welcome gift from us.. welcome to the neighborhood!” I was so touched by this. As many of my transgender followers know, interactions with random cashiers can be a source of stress. My voice tends to out me as being transgender if I am speaking more than about 10 words to someone. I don’t really care that much, but there is always the thought in the back of my mind that someone may make a spectacle of me with a line of customers behind me. This woman made a spectacle of me.. but it was to welcome me to the neighborhood. I expressed my thanks and left with a huge smile on my face. Before I pulled out of the store, I snapped some pictures with my new flower.

I had tears in my eyes as I pulled away from the store.

Her name was Angela.

-Ari