Yikes! I worked on HACS paperwork until 2 AM last night. Tonight, I have outreach and testing to do.

Today, Carolyn and I went by the Center to see how the construction was coming:

The new mantel looks about 1/2 done.

The bathroom is coming along as well.

The upstairs meeting room has gained a lot a room with the removal of a wall – gowd the meeting room will be nice!

I also picked up a lot of framing we were having done:

This is an original New York Times reporting on the Nazi destruction of the Hirschfield Institute.

I’m really excited about the history we will have in this Center. I don’t know of another collection like it in the world and certainly not one that is open for public viewing! My hope is that the collection, archive and library continues to grow becoming the most unique TG educational experience in the world.

Seeing all of this stuff is really amazing to me. While I’ve learned a lot about our history, this is the first time that I have actually encountered it. I suspect that it will be the a first for most people.

When Carolyn and I stopped at Baba Yega’s for lunch, I saw a car that went the extra mile to express the owner’s feelings:

“America: It’s time for a Self-Correction” & “Please God – No More Republicans”

Tomorrow morning, I have to make a trip to the passport office. My passport has a limitation of being good for only 1 year, so I have to bring in the documents proving I had SRS so they will validate my passport. Carolyn and I will be going down to Brazil in August. We will be retuning the day after my birthday on August 24th. Spending a week on Ipanema Beach will do me good, I think!

After that, I go into work for a bit and then run over to my grandmother’s. She has to have a CAT scan because her cancer might have returned. She is a breast cancer survivor and had a mastectomy several years ago. She is really scared about this. It would explain her ill health as of late.  If I could take her fear away, I would. Strangely, I feel very okay with the idea of her death. I felt the same when it came to my mother. I certainly grieved a bit, but it wasn’t so personal to me – my pain was about her suffering – she suffered so much. I hope that when death comes for my grandmother, she won’t have to suffer too greatly.

Yesterday, I was able to sit in meditation for half an hour. It was long overdo. I am always a bit surprised at how much meditation feels like a homecoming after I’ve gone without it for a little while.