There was simply no question that I must attend Esprit 1999, an annual conference which has been held in Port Angeles, Washington since 1998. So many of the friends that I had made over the preceeding year would be there, both those whom I had met in person during my previous vist to Washington as Janis, and those whom I had met online, mainly in the chat rooms at TG Forum. I had previously arranged with my "Twin Sister" Julianne to share a room at the conference hotel, and she had already made a reservation. The conference events were scheduled from Wednesday, May 19 through Sunday, May 23. I had arranged with Julianne to meet her there on Tuesday, May 18.
During the months preceeding the conference, I had been very busy, including many activities as Janis that I have yet to record for this web site. I had met yet another dear cyber-friend, Suzi, who had flown from Ohio to attend a conference here, and been with her on her first outing en femme in San Francisco. I had begun attending Executive Committee and other committee meetings of TGSF, and had been elected as Treasurer of the group. So, with the combination of that work for the group, and my characteristic avoidance of unpleasant tasks, I had not kept track of my personal finances well.
For several years, I had been only working part-time as a consultant, and had been living mainly off of the inheiritance from my parents and the money that I had saved while working full time from 1975 to 1984. When I finally sat down and examined my situation, I found that I didn't have enough available funds to make the trip. There was still some money that I had kept out of reach: two life insurance policies, a lapsed business account whose funds had been taken by the state, and a credit union account of my father that we had overlooked in settling his estate. The problem was that I didn't have enough time to convert these to cash before leaving for the conference.
So, in my all too common last-minute fashion, I sought a solution to my problem. The first wonderful thing was meeting Karen Andrews, both in person at a TGSF meeting and online in the TG Forum chat room. She had planned to drive to Esprit 1999, and wanted someone to come with her to share the driving and expenses. She had also arranged to stay with an online friend of hers in the Portland, Oregon area en route then two days with our friend Christine in the Seattle area. That solved my dilema on how to get to the conference and back, as I had enough cash available for those expenses.
The day before we were to leave I contacted an old friend, with whom I had been out of touch for quite a while. I explained my problem to him, and asked if he could loan me the money that I needed. After consulting with his wife, he told me that he was unable to do so. I also contacted some of the institutions which had funds of mine on how to withdraw them, but in all cases it would take several months.
But I knew that I simply must make the journey to Esprit 1999. There were simply too many friends whom I had to meet there. My fallback position was to go there, greet everyone then return on my own after a night or two at the hotel without actually registering for the conference.
As I'm typing this, I'm about to get ready for my third day at the conference. Obviously, I found a solution to my problem, thanks to the help of one of the many dear friends that I have made as Janis. Below is an outline of events so far which will be filled in as I have time.
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| Janis at Westlake
Center May 17, 1999 |
Janis at Christine's May 18, 1999 |
Janis at Esprit
1999 May 19, 1999 |
This page last updated: August 19, 1999
