Twenty-three years into the marriage I knew was over after two, it was time to make some changes.
In August, I was t‑boned by a girl who ran a red light while taking a selfie. The car was totaled, but I was not bleeding, just some back issues that would require attention from a chiropractor. But there was a moment after spinning around and thinking this could be the end that brought clarity. I couldn’t keep living this lie.
Katie also was dealing with change. She left her parents home in November, also leaving the church. I was not aware of the circumstances, but I knew her change of address was not really by choice.
I finally moved out myself in January of ’14 and called my parents to let them know my new address. As expected, they did not approve. I got their usual encouragement to return to God, but until then there would be a distance. Though I have gone back to talk with them a couple of times since, that distance is still there.
Katie has also experienced that distance, with her parents and also with her grandparents. Yet she still struggles through. In 2019, Katie, not comfortable with either the female or male gender, came out as non-binary, adopting the name Aion (pronounced like ‘Ion’) for all new friends. Sometimes she describes herself as an alien living among us. She jokes, “I’m from another world. Yours confuses me.” Those of us who knew her young are still allowed to call her Katie, and she is still my Turtle.
With our changes, we both lost a piece of ourselves, but we also gained a portion back. We draw strength from each other and my other siblings who have left over the years; we are now reunited.
I had called Steve while returning from driving a load to Colorado a week later. We were chatting about a Christmas song from the band Boston. Our conversations drifted back to that dinner with Katie and about the meanings of her special pocket mementoes. He remembered the rocks and coins I always carried, especially the banded agate.
After that phone call I knew what I wanted to do. Something so small, yet an idea that kept growing as I drove across Nebraska, cutting into the southwest corner of Iowa, down I-29 to I-70 and on home to make preparations.
Maybe this could be really big.
| Copyright © 2022 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there. |
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