Letter to the subject
Dear Sandra,
You’ve lead an absolutely amazing life. It started off so poorly, with parents who could never even try to understand the person you might end up being, nor even the person you were to the end.
I’m in awe of someone who can go from where you started, make so many mistakes and then turn themselves around. For you, transitioning from male to female seems to have been the best thing for you. That and marrying George. I know it didn’t last but I do feel he was good for you. From there you seem to have really blossomed and become the businesswoman you were destined to be.
I do wonder if I’ve even met you, even just once. Being in Melbourne you were mostly in suburbs I’ve only visited briefly, but when you married you moved close to me. You worked in Brighton, owned and managed a hardware store. And it’s about the time I had kids. I do wonder if I met you in Brighton while I was getting us all out of the house.
With all you’ve done I don’t think any obituary could do you justice. Thank you for choosing Sarah Krasnostein to write this book. I know it’s not an obituary, but a biography. I’m reading this after your death, and I don’t feel that a few hundred words of an obituary could ever have shown the world the real you, the different versions of you, nor the final version of you. That final version that has done such a valuable job of cleaning up after those who have died. Or such a tender job of helping hoarders with their homes and trying to get them to understand what needs to happen.
I just want to thank you for all you’ve done and all you’ve been. You’ve lead the way for many people to be the person they need to be not the person other people expect them to be. And that is enormous thing to do.
Farewell, Sandra, thank you for showing us how to be better than how we were born.
The best thing any reader could do for themselves is to click on this link to buy the book.