A Letter to my Friends and Family

To my dear friends,

Some of you were only in my life a short time, or we have not met in person for far too long, due to whatever combination of factors. Some of you have been in my life for longer than I care to recall, a steady undercurrent in these turbulent times. Some of you I set out to make friends with, others snuck up on me without warning, until one day I turned around and discovered that the number of my friends had increased.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking by me. I know that I don't always make it easy.

To Atlanta, my best friend since pre-school, even though we never attended the same school. It's been over six months since we saw each other in person, yet even if another year passed between meetings, it would feel like only a moment in my heart. We have picked each other up from rock bottom, held each other through tears, and been each other's much needed boost to reach that lifesaving handhold on the great obstacle course of life.

There is no-one I would have rather had by my side and in my heart during those struggles than you.

To my assorted Historical Reenactment friends, thank you for giving me a home and an outlet. If I hadn't discovered this thriving social group, I'd probably still be spending all my free time in my room, writing angsty poetry. Instead, I'm regularly engaging in social activities, without nearly the amount of social exhaustion that I used to have, and cackling over shared shenanigans. Most of you are my friends, some of you are my family of choice, all of you are amazing people.

I can't imagine life without you.

To the Sydney Writes Club (who got out early when NaNoWriMo started to crash and burn like the Hindenburg Disaster), thank you for putting in so much time and effort to make this work. From the crocheted November Mascots (Wisteria the Hedgehog and Angelina the Mouse have welcomed Mushroom the Unnamed), to organizing the many and varied events, to showing up multiple times a week while also working actual paid jobs and who knows what else making demands on your time.

From listening to my inspiration rants, to providing a space and people whose eyes don't glaze over when I talk, to enabling me to meet my Beloved nearly seven years ago, you make my life much better.

To my family, without whom I wouldn't be the person I am today. For Sally, my other-half, and who I have now lived as long without her in my life as the years we had together. I still love you and miss you every day. To Alicia, I'm grateful that we've come to a point of getting along, even if we'll probably never be close. For my mother, who somehow raised three children within three years of each other, two of them with disabilities. My determination to be childfree is no reflection on you, but you raised me to think things through, and I'm not cut out to be a parent.

I'm grateful for my father, who always encouraged me to reach for my dreams, but not to the exclusion of all else. I never feared coming out to either of my parents (and damn, is that a rare story among the Pride community...), but my Dad and Stepmother are the ones supporting Planned Parenthood, attending Pride Marches and Women's rallies, and working with the ACLU to make life better for people who don't have the resources to do it themselves.

Speaking of whom...

I'm grateful for my Mum's partner and my Dad's wife. They came into my life when I was fifteen, and unlike so many of the stories I see on Reddit, didn't try to force an insta-family. I already had parents, and didn't need new ones, but John was a kind, steady presence who loved us as much as his own kids.

Pat was emphatically not a kid-person, but she accepted that Dad came as a package deal, and put up with a lot of backlash that she didn't deserve from certain parties for his sake. I'm so grateful that she stuck with him through that, and became the kind of mentor I needed.

Also, I'm beyond grateful to my Future In-Laws, Sue and Geoff. You welcomed me into the family with open arms, without any of the reservations I'd experienced from past partners' families. You're unendingly kind and supportive of both of us, and it's hard to put into words how much that means to me.

All my love

Natasja