Have you ever had an accidental encounter that changed your life? I have, and here is my story.

Accidental Encounters, True Friendships.

It all started late one night in a trailer park. As some friends and I were finishing up a late night gaming session, we decided to we needed a Taco Bell run. There’s nothing like a pile of tacos after working up your hunger raiding champ spawns in UO.

Well, I got elected to make the run, so armed with a list of items to get and some cash, I headed to my car. As I was about to get in it, my neighbor came around of the corner of his place. In a dress! Needless to say, I was quite surprised since it was not Halloween. It actually wasn’t even close to Halloween.

Back to what I was saying, my neighbor came around the corner of his house wearing a dress, heels, wig, makeup, the whole nine yards, and I really don’t think he expected to be spotted. I stopped. He froze. Then I said, “Hey Matt, do you realize you are wearing a dress and it isn’t even Halloween?” He asked if I was going to hit him, so I asked him, Why would I hit you?” He told me he had been hit and abused when he had been caught “dressed” before, so that is why he only went out like that late at night. He also told me that dressing like that was his job. I told him it would be a silly thing for someone to hit someone else simply because they were dressed differently.

The next day I Matt came over and asked if I’d come to his place. He said he needed to talk to me, so I went with him. He then told me all about how he had always felt more feminine, and how he didn’t know why, but he felt better while dressed in women’s clothing. He let me know of all the bad things he had experienced at the hands of others, including some members of his own family as a result.

I really felt sorry for him, and I let him know that he was still my friend, no matter what he decided to wear. After that we became closer friends. I even got him into MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role-playing games ). Yes, I know I corrupted him, but hey, what are friends for?

Later, I did see firsthand a few instances of the abuse he had to take from members of his own family, and I stepped in and put a stop to them. I didn’t really see Matt dressed up too much, since he had to be on his guard in case his dad or brothers came over. If they saw him dressed they might do anything from yelling at him to hitting him. They would even take some of his clothes and toss them in the trash.

I remember the time I went over there and helped him get set up on Ultima Online. His dad came over and stormed in the house without knocking. He yelled that Matt had been seen wearing a dress (Matt had been pulled over for speeding the previous night while dressed), and that no son of his was going to be a sissy faggot. He then stomped back to Matt’s room and grabbed all of Matt’s dresses and was going to throw them out. I stood up and told him if he did not put them down I would get the cops over to arrest him, and if he didn’t stop yelling and calling his son things he wouldn’t even call a stranger, I would personally make him leave the property. It’s one of the few times I purposefully used my size to intimidate someone. He left, but said he would get Matt to stop doing what he was doing one way or another. Matt was in tears at this time, and even though it seemed strange to me at the time, he came and cried on my shoulder, but he is a friend, so I did what I could.

I did want to know a bit more about Matt’s lifestyle so I could understand him more, so I googled the word transvestite. I’ll never made that mistake again.
Do you have any idea what you get when you do a search on the word “transvestite”?
Neither did I, but I sure don’t recommend doing it. Obviously I did not learn a thing about my friend Matt. I am pretty sure he didn’t do the things those sites said though. If I could have washed the images out of my brain I would have. Ewww.

Months later I had forgotten about finding any information on Matt, when much to my surprise I found out more about him, and also met some really cool people by accident.

I had an assignment that had to be emailed to one of my professors by 6:30 PM. I had the assignment on a disk, but could not get home in time to email it, so I hit the library to use one of their computers. The one I chose had a story that someone left up, so since I am an avid reader I minimized the screen, got my paper emailed off with five minutes to spare, then brought the story up and decided to read.
It was ‘Gaby’ by Maddy Bell. Even though that type of story isn’t really my thing (I’m a science fiction and fantasy nut) I enjoyed what I read. I noted the url of the site, and when I got home I read the entire story as it was up then. I think it was at 36 chapters at the time. When I was though, I posted my thoughts on the story on the old bravenet forum Maddy had up at the time. The response I got was very friendly, so I stuck around.

A couple years later Stacy from the Gabyzone had a birthday come up, and since Stacy doesn’t live all that far from me, so I got a gift and gave it to Stacy at the place where Stacy worked. We talked for a bit, and I found out the person on the other side of the screen was as cool in real life as they were on the Internet.
Later on I had Thanksgiving dinner at Stacy’s place, and was informed me I was adopted into Stacy’s family, so now I visit them a lot, and I spend holidays with them. I also ended up sending Christmas gifts and cards to some of the people I had met online. I enjoy giving when I can. I also ended up talking to a lot of the people from there on the phone.

This past February while I was out west for my annual vacation to visit relatives I got fired from the job I had, so I decided to stay out there for a bit and visit some of the people I had met online.

During March I visited with Robi for five days, Melody for two, Robin Carr a couple evenings, and Chris W for a week. While I was at Chris’ house he said I should visit the TGSA general chat, so I did. I met Holly Logan on there, who invited me to come by and meet when I went back through her area.

Robi was a really fun person to visit. I already knew Robi had a sense of humor from something he’d done one time. I was sitting at my computer all nice and easy, when unexpectedly, Robi popped in front of his webcam in a pink tutu.
I almost ruined my laptop, and I set my sinuses on fire. I don’t recommend laughing while taking a big drink of Pepsi.

While I was at Robi’s place we hit the beach, some restaurants, and even Disneyland and Disney California for a couple days. I really enjoyed myself, and Robi said he finally got to be himself while I was there.

I almost didn’t make it though. A wheel bearing started to go out on the way to his place from Nevada. I made it to his place safely, but when I pulled up, all but one lug nut popped off. The studs had all broken, with the lug nuts still on them.
Robi was really nice, in that he helped me get the parts to fix it. He did have a good laugh at it, and got some good pictures of what happened. When he comes back this direction, I plan on taking him to different places around here. I think we will hit Holiday World and Kings Island.

When I went up to visit Melody, I also met Robin Carr in person. We all had dinner at a really awesome restaurant called Chef Chu’s. I had no idea what was good there, so Melody ordered for us. That was the first time I had ever eaten in a restaurant where they bring you the food course by course. I ended up staying the night at Melody’s house since she had a spare bedroom, and the next day I had lunch with her where she works. She told me some cool places to visit, got me a couple souvenirs there at Apple before I headed off to check out the places she had suggested. It’s too bad not all the pictures turned out. A water drop on a camera lens really screws up pictures.

After doing some running around I headed up to Chris’ place, getting there late that night. While I was there we did a bit of running around at lake Shasta, and I got to know Chris and his family. We had a pretty good time, and I found out Chris really enjoys cooking. Chris, Kathy, and the kids love having people visit them, so if you are ever in the Redding, CA area, you should drop by and say hi. While I was there I had my first visit to the TGSA general chat room, and I exchanged phone numbers with Holly Logan since I was going to be headed back through there. After a week I headed back south. I headed back and had lunch with Robin Carr and talked for a while, then I ran around the bay area for a while, then I gave Holly a call and we met each other.

I had dinner at a buffet with Holly, and while there I found out we had some things in common. I had a great time, and we got to talking a lot in the buffet’s parking lot. Before we knew it, it was very late, so I ended up on the rollaway couch in the front room of Holly’s place. I also met Holly’s cats. One of them is probably the fattest cat I have ever seen.

Holly is someone who is a very good person who has been a real blessing to many people. Next time Holly is back this way I’ll have to introduce her to my cat, and return the favor of a place to sleep and a buffet. I’ll also introduce her to Stacy and Rachel Anne. Holly was the last person I met from the chatrooms on my trip out west.

Speaking of Rachel Anne, I met her in person in October. I had talked to her in chat on and off for a bit, then she disappeared. Sara was very concerned for her, since she had not been on for a while, and so was I, so I emailed her. She replied a bit later, and came back into chat and on MSN. While she was there, I joked that I would come down to visit her wearing a Halloween costume. She gave me her address and phone number, so I decided I would head on down to Kentucky and visit her. I did tell her I did not have a costume, so I was not going to show up in one.
She knew I had a few parties to hit, and she also knew I had said I would wear whatever anyone wanted me to wear on Halloween, so she decided to supply me with one, and did. I have been back to her place another time since then, and we had some good times. I like her, Jay, and her daughter Terri. As with all the people I have met in person, from both the TGSA and Gabyzone chats, she is a good person.

I have also spoke to plenty of other people on the phone and over voice chat. I have spent hours on the phone with Piper, Cathy T, and Sephrena. I will eventually visit them as well, and I plan on visiting all of the rest of the people from both chats someday, if they don’t mind. Heck, when I win the lottery I’ll be able to visit all of the nice people in Europe and Australia who are on too.

That is how I found out by accident, that transgendered people from crossdressers to transsexuals, are some very nice people. If everyone could meet the people I have met in these past four and a half years I bet there wouldn’t be the mistrust and lack of understanding that seems so rampant in this world towards these people as a group. Some of the nicest, funniest, friendliest, and most misunderstood people I have met are TG. I have also gotten to read some great stories along the way.

Isn’t it funny how an open web page at a public library, and a late night Taco Bell run can bring more happiness, friends, and yes, even family, into someone’s life?