Becoming A High School Girl - Epilogue

OTHER CHAPTERS | ALL STORY LIST

Edited By - Julia Miller

It's hard to believe that those events happened ten years ago. I guess that I should catch you up on what's happened in the past decade.

First off, both Mike and Alex had very successful college careers. Neither won the Heisman, but both ended up in the pros. Alex's career didn't last that long, as he had knee problems. He's presently an assistant coach for Penn State. The word is that he'll eventually become a college head coach. He just got married last year. He still has the big party every Fourth of July, and every year, as many of us try to be there if possible.

Mike's career has been much more rewarding. He's very successful in the NFL, and, barring injuries, he should have many more great seasons. Nonetheless, he's not just a jock. He earned a master's in social psychology in the off-seasons and then put together a 'Sports without Bullies' program, which is getting a lot of attention in high schools across the country.

I did go to a few games at State, and I still go to the occasional pro game to see Mike play. He still considers me his lucky charm, and maybe he's right. Every game I've seen him play in person, they have won, including the past two Super Bowls.

Kristen broke up with Alex in college, but they remained good friends. She got her wish to live in NYC. Kristen's presently a reporter for one of the largest cable news networks and told me she would soon get her own show. We still get together once a year for a weekend of shopping and shows. She's still single, although she's recently been dating a hockey player for one of the NY teams.

Tracey and Mike broke up in college. After she graduated from college, she married a doctor and moved to Atlanta. The last time I heard from her, she was a mother with three kids.

Rachael Patton went on to try out for the Olympic team. She qualified for the marathon and had a respectable finish, placing in the top thirty. Rachael still competes in marathon events and does TV commentary for cable sports channels and the occasional network appearance. She's hoping to be a commentator for the next Summer Olympics.

Caroline had her SRS the following summer, a few weeks before mine. She has stayed with Paul and, for all practical purposes, they've been married since they graduated from Central. They created a successful comic strip that is presently syndicated in over a hundred newspapers around the country. They bought a big farmhouse near Golden Hill and turned it into their home and studio.

Denise is still rocking and had her SRS a few years ago. She has become a successful studio musician and still tours with a band. She's also still a total nonconformist and still takes great joy in confusing the hell out of people.

Glenn works for NPR as a writer. He told me recently that he has no regrets concerning his decision to drop out. He did credit his time as Lisa as giving him the self-confidence to become a writer.

Dan stayed in Golden Hill. He's now the owner of the leather shop next to Mrs. Lincoln's store.

Charlie still plays the piano and is a well-respected studio artist. I've seen his name in the liner notes of many CDs. I did see him play a few years ago, and he was touring with a well-known blues singer.

Alex's brother, Nick, entered the Scholarship contest and lasted two months. He said he just wanted to see what it was like to live as a woman. Several years later, he confessed that he had a major crush on me. He moved to Seattle, and the last I heard, he worked in the news department of a local television station.

Tom Bell is presently a special investigator for the Pennsylvania State Police. He's married and has several kids. Sam is still trying to talk him into going to law school, but Tom says that he's having too much fun "catching jerks."

Jenny McCall and Lori Chambers are still in Golden Hill, and they are still a couple. Lori is now the Athletic Director at Dewey, and Jenny still has her practice, and I still call and see her now and then.

Dr. Lee is now a professor at Dewey, where she teaches sociology.

Mrs. Lincoln has retired from directly running her stores, and she turned the day-to-day operation of the business over to Cindy. She still makes her trips to New York and is in the middle of writing her memoirs. I can't wait to read them!

Tony, the limo driver, also retired and turned the business over to his sons. However, he still serves as Mrs. Lincoln's driver whenever she goes to the city.

Mel and Cliff married the following June, and their marriage is still going strong. They now live in northern California and have two kids and three dogs.

Jason is still in prison. He has become a 'model' prisoner, and because of that, he'll be eligible for early parole next year. That's several years sooner than his original sentence. I plan on going to the hearing and every hearing after that. I guess I should be more forgiving, but it's tough to forgive his actions. I still carry around some baggage because of what he did to me, and since I have no early release from my pain, I don't think he should get out early just because he's been a good boy.

Martin Turner lost his license to practice law in PA. The last I heard of him, he was selling used cars in Miami, Florida. I know that I'd never buy a car from him!

Nancy Bell is now the principal at Central and also earned her doctorate. The scholarship program is still going strong, and she has seen similar programs start-up in three other school districts. She was married last year, and I was one of her bridesmaids. Her husband Jeff is a professor at Dewey and is a great person. I still consider Nancy one of my best friends!

Terri and Brett dated on and off for a few months before they surprised everyone and eloped on a trip to Las Vegas. He moved to Golden Hill, joined the police force as a lieutenant, and became our new police chief two years later.

Cat has done much since graduating from Central High. She graduated with honors from college, and the FBI immediately hired her. She joined Matt, who was already working there. She quickly became a rising star in the crime lab. They sent her back to school to earn her master's degree in forensic science. She has personally solved several high-profile crimes. They say that she's a natural!

Cat married Matt two years ago in a lovely ceremony in Washington DC, and I was honored to be her maid of honor. We still keep in touch, and I can always count on her honest opinion and excellent advice. After all, we're now cousins in a sort of roundabout way.

Sam and Mom are still married and even deeper in love. I now have a sister, Terri, age 9, and a brother, Sam Jr., age 7. I love being the older sister! Mom still works at the computer company and is now VP of marketing. Sam is still the DA, although there have been rumblings of people trying to get him to run for congress. Sam says that he's too honest to be a congressman. He still drinks coffee and still has his killer smile!

They still live in the same house. The backyard is now fenced in and is the playground for the kids and the dogs. Sam couldn't decide what to get, so they got both a chocolate lab named Mocha and an Irish setter named Murphy. The bush is still alive and thriving. It's huge now and shelters a rabbit's burrow. I am glad that it has become a sanctuary.

Laura and I broke up during our second year of college. The distance/separation was too hard on both of us, and we made a mutual decision to split up. We stayed friends and got back together again, but more on that later.

She passed the bar and is now practicing law. She specializes in civil rights, with particular attention to women's rights and LGBT discrimination. She also works with Marlene at times. Sam says that she's an excellent lawyer and that he wouldn't mind having her on his staff.

As for me, I had my SRS the summer following graduation, and I pushed it back from the spring so Cat and Laura could be there for me. The surgery was successful. I never got plastic surgery for the scar above my eye, and it had faded enough so that it was barely noticeable.

The adoption papers came through the fall after graduating from Central High, and I became Sam's daughter legally! I continued to attend Dewey and to work at the dress shop. I graduated with a BA in History and a minor in Education. I took some time off to travel a little before starting my teaching career. I was hired as a teacher at Central High the following year and now work alongside Mr. Kline - excuse me, Gordon! I still have difficulty calling my former teachers by their first names, just as he predicted!

I love teaching, and I'm also on the scholarship committee. I'm seriously thinking about going back to college to become a counselor, and Nancy says that there's funding available if I want to do that. Mrs. Lincoln has also told me that she wants me to take her seat on the Scholarship Trust board of trustees when she gets too old, though Mrs. Lincoln says she doesn't plan on getting 'too old' any time soon.

As for my private life, I survived the initial breakup with Laura. After college, I had a short, intense fling with Mike. I think we both needed it. Mike told me that he'd had a real crush on me in high school. However, our relationship soon ended, but it was enjoyable while it lasted, and we left as good friends.

I still have the occasional battles with the demons spawned by Jason's hateful action, but I'm still winning the war. Having understanding friends has been my greatest asset, along with the occasional therapy session.

Laura and I got back together after she finished law school, and it was better than ever before! She always said that we would be together forever, and she was right; we got married four years ago.

Initially, they told us we couldn't get married since we were both women. The funny thing was that the same laws that wouldn't let me completely change all my paperwork to say I was female allowed us to get married. Since the State of Pennsylvania still legally considered me a male, they had no choice but to issue us a marriage license. Either they had to allow us to marry, or they would have to declare me a female. Laura still considered our case for marriage, her most significant moment in the courtroom. Laura and I were both interviewed on nationwide TV!  Laura said that she and Marlene's goal was to replace those ridiculous laws one day, and I believe her. We joked about who would play us in the made-for-TV movie.

The actual wedding was just a simple exchange of vows. Because of the case's publicity, we held it in secret with only family and close friends. Still, it was a lovely ceremony, and it was also excellent having Sam give me away.

So, we both now live in Golden Hill. We found a lovely house with a spacious yard that's just a couple of blocks from Mom and Sam. We share our home with a large mixed breed pound dog named Charlie, my tribute to John Steinbeck, and a black cat named Maya, named after a friend's cat back in San Diego. Laura is also eight months pregnant with our first child, a daughter, who we've decided to name Caitlin, in honor of our best friend. My sperm samples seemed to have stayed potent enough to get her pregnant (and we still have more). There was some talk by a few of the extreme political zealots about coming here to protest our marriage until they realized who we were. They must have done their research this time and knew not to mess with us!

Anyway, things are going very well. Sam and Mom are very excited about becoming grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Warren are VERY enthusiastic about becoming great-grandparents. I'm also happy about being a co-mom, as I'll be taking some maternity leave to help raise Kitten, our nickname for our daughter. I've been getting all sorts of great advice from Elaine Roberts at Central. We still laugh about my adventures with Robo-baby. I was delighted to find out that, with some hormone dosage adjustments and frequent nipple stimulation, I should be able to produce breast milk and help nurse our daughter. Laura has been enthusiastic about helping me out in that respect!

This week was the tenth anniversary of my starting down the road to becoming a woman. Laura told me she had a surprise for me, and I was wondering what it might be. Sunday morning arrived, the sun was shining, and it was a perfect day. Laura told me we must take a drive so she could show me her surprise. We got in the car, and Laura started to drive to our destination. I wondered where it was, but Laura just smiled and kissed me. Eventually, we stopped at the Golden Hill Cemetery. We both got out of the car, and Laura smiled and said, follow me. Wordlessly, we walked through the cemetery with little birds twittering, and there were a few deer grazing as well. We walked over to an older part of the cemetery, and she stopped in front of a large headstone. There were two names carved on it, Conrad James Patterson, Former President of Dewey College, but the name below it made me fall to my knees. Erica Jeanne Patterson, Faithful Wife - Social Activist – Loving Mother. She was the woman who had started the Scholarship program. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I silently thanked her for starting the program responsible for the fundamental changes to my life. Incredibly, we shared almost the same names. Laura smiled and told me; I think she was guiding you, Erika.

So, that's all for now. I may continue my story another day, but I have a feeling that, with our baby on the way, I'll be a bit busy in the future. However, if your town wants to start a scholarship program like Central, don't hesitate to contact Dr. Nancy Bell, Principal, Central High School, Golden Hill, PA. She'll be happy to help you!

The End.