WOW! What a day!

Today was a day that was so eventful that your first thought is, "Nobody could make this stuff up!"

I woke up a bit tense, not knowing what the day would bring, but knowing that it's just "out" there, and I couldn't stop it now if I wanted to.

I had planned, back around Thanksgiving time, to take today off, just to burn a day or so because my leave bank was getting up there to the point where I was going to have to "use it or lose it." So, we got up, I put on my slippers instead of my shoes, and waved goodbye to Lisa in the front window of the house as she drove off for work.

I sat down with a cup of coffee at my computer, and checked the local rag, only to find that it appeared that the story had already been relegated to the "archives," literally, as yesterday's old news. I found I was a bit relieved with that.

I logged in to my work email account and found the usual daily "news" up there, and it contained only a couple of articles about work happenings. No emails other than that one daily one. That's great.

So, I settled in and tried to organize my thoughts. I figured I'd try to update this blog, but found that I just didn't have much to think about at the moment and considered that there was an entire day ahead of me -- one I'm sure I'd find something to write about.

I telephoned the union president, because I needed to talk to her about a union issue that had arisen about our pay withholdings. I chatted with her for a few minutes about the union issue, and then she told me how pleased she was that my lawsuit had been filed. She's been pretty supportive all along, and I've kept her informed at every step -- figured I owed it to her. We chatted for a few more minutes about the lawsuit, and then hung up.

I poured myself another cup of coffee and, sometime around 10:00 or so, I decided it might be a good idea to check my work voice mail, as I thought that it was possible that some reporters might have called (since my name, place of employment, and position were published in the paper), so I dialed the number. I logged in to my voice mail account, to find that there were thirteen new messages. Each and every one of them was from someone where I work, expressing support and best wishes. One said "You're my hero." A couple of them expressed how huge they thought this was, and how proud they were of me. They were all pretty much the same sentiment. Support. Pride. Awe. By the time I'd gotten through all of my messages, I was emotionally drained. I cried a bit -- I felt so liberated, so empowered by those messages of support!

I called a friend from work (she's been my sounding board for the past few months) and chatted with her for a bit. She'd been one of the messages -- "You GO girl!" I hung up after conversing with her for a bit, and called another person that had left me a message -- a total stranger. Spoke with her a bit, then hung up. I decided that I just couldn't call any more of the folks that left messages -- I was overwhelmed, emotionally, by this surprising display of support. And it wasn't just from the gay/lesbian community at work, it was from "straight" folks, too.

I'm not a person who likes a lot of attention or scrutiny. I was a bit uncomfortable with all the attention, initially, but then realized that it was foolish to be uncomfortable with it. It's not like I didn't see it coming, after all. I have to learn to take it in stride.

Lisa usually calls me when she's left work, to let me know that she HAS left, so I have a better idea of when to expect her home. I thought she'd be really interested to hear of all the places our story had appeared today.

At about 5:15 the phone rang -- about the average time for Lisa to call. I checked the caller ID and saw, with huge disappointment, that it was, in fact, Lisa, but she was calling from her work number, not her cell phone number.

She was calling to let me know, obviously, that she was still at work because she didn't want to leave just yet. It seems a male co-worker of hers, who has not been "right" for a few days, was not "right" even worse. Her boss and a couple of other co-workers were still there, and refusing to leave until they knew he was okay.

Long story short, it turns out that the emergency response training she and I took recently, yielded good dividends. She had observed him, what appeared to be, sleeping sitting straight up at his desk. She and her boss managed to raise him but he was apparently disoriented. He went to the bathroom but, when he returned, he was holding his left arm, like it was in an invisible sling. She apparently realized that, with his grayish/ashen skin, his sweatiness, and the fact that he was rubbing his left arm, he was likely having some sort of cardiac symptoms. She convinced him to lay down, and she elevated his feet. She said that just a few minutes after they got him to lay down, he started to "pink up" again -- that is, he lost some of that ashen color. She just chatted with him, in a friendly manner, asked him how his right arm felt. He replied "Fine, it's fine." She said "How about that left arm, does that bother you?" He admitted that it hurt. She asked if his chest bothered him, and he acknowledged that it did. She began rubbing his back and asked him if he felt any pressure there -- he acknowledged some discomfort.

An ambulance was called, Lisa was able to provide the paramedics with important information regarding her co-worker's appearance, behavior, disorientation, etc., and they took him away to a local hospital.

Lisa was really stoked, mentally, but jazzed up badly, physically. It's really affected her a lot -- I think the enormity, the gravity of the situation hit her on the way home. Her face was red when she came in the door, her stomach was a bit woozy, and she went almost directly from the front door to the bedroom to retrieve the blood pressure monitor. Her BP was fine, but she still felt flush and "jazzed."

We settled in, had some dinner, and now she's laying on the couch watching "The First Wives Club," -- all is well with the world.

This next part is meant merely as a muse -- there's no ulterior motive, no hidden message, nothing sinister, just a bit of an epiphany I had today.

Some time back, I had a relationship with a woman -- in fact, she was my lover before Lisa, the first person, other than my kids, that I really, truly loved. She was, what is referred to in some psychiatric circles, my "transition" relationship. There's really no need for particulars because the relationship ended. The thing is, this WAS my transitional relationship -- the first time in my life I truly acknowledged all of me, without holding back. It was this person who taught me how to love, and how to BE loved. Her name was Kim.

At the time our relationship ended, I was devastated, beyond belief. I couldn't bear to look into tomorrow without her, barely wanted to get out of bed in the morning. I was lost. It was at this time that I read something that I just remembered today.

It said that people come in and out of our lives -- some for short periods of time, and some for our entire lives. Those that come into our lives for only a short time, serve a purpose. They touch our lives in ways that we don't understand until sometime later in our life. But they always leave a mark, and shape our futures.

It occurred to me today that, while I can't stand the thought of ever being WITH Kim again -- the love of my life is Lisa -- it was, in fact, Kim who was the catalyst behind this whole situation that I find myself in today. Because of her I explored myself, discovered who I really was, and let myself free-fall into a whole new life. A life of integrity. But also a life destined to be full of adversity as well.

It was Kim who opened me up to the point where, when Lisa came back into my life, I was finally ready for her. We have often commented about how we have Kim to thank for "us."

But, if you are a member of the GLBT community and you support what we're doing with this lawsuit, and putting it out there for everyone, then give Kim some credit for that, too. If there had been no Kim, there would be no Lisa now. And if there was no Lisa, there would be someone else who would have to step up to the plate, as we have done, to help forge a new path of freedom and equality for our brothers and sisters in the gay and lesbian community.

So, if you know Kim, thank her. If you don't know Kim, thank her anyway for helping me to transform from the caterpillar.

Thanks, Kim. From both of us. Really.