Returning all the pertinent papers and explanatory information to the large fat folder, she handed it

over.

"Just don't take too long," she warned. "I already told you that I have to leave in a couple of days and those documents must return with me." Back in her apartment, Chrissy collapsed into her favorite chair with the sheaf of papers and. began the unpleasant task of reading every single word. As expected, every paragraph was loaded with confusing and often incomprehensible legal jargon. After what seemed like hours, she sat back and sighed in perplexed bewilderment, having read every page but understanding very little of

it.

She needed help. She needed advice. What was she to do? Maybe she should call in her friends? Chrissy suddenly realized that she would have to leave her friends if she agreed to Ms. Miller's suggestion of a 'vacation', and her heart wrenched at the prospect of being seperated from the Group for even a short time. Should they be included in her decision. She decided, YES! Without further hesitation she hurriedly called a meeting for that evening. Shortly after dinner, the Group was in Chrissy's apartment. Mary, Judy, Tracy, Alice, and Mattie, all Chrissy's dear sweet friends, were there and ready to help her.

"Ladies," "Chrissy began. "I have to decide what I will do now that I am no longer a man. According to a certain lawyer, all the legal documents that established my existence as Christopher Davis are no longer valid.

Therefore,

if I am to exist in society again, I must become a new person. That person will be female, of course, but..." She had to pause while a burst of excited clapping and congratulations died down. "But, the legal preparations involved are very similar to what got me here in the first place,

and my decision at that time was very uninformed, to put it mildly. So, I'm sure you will understand my reluctance to sign anything. I love you all and your advice matters to me. to do?" What am I

Advice, opinions, suggestions came so fast Chrissy couldn't catch them all. Eventually a certain amount of order was established as Chrissy brought out the papers and the Group began to discuss each item in turn. As it turned out, Mattie had been a legal secretary at one time, long before her beautician days, and was a big help. The first document was a birth certificate naming one Christine Ann Davidson, sex female. The reaction was unanimously positive. name" was typical of the comments. it too. It had a nice ring to it and it was close enough to her old name to avoid confusion. could still be 'Chris'. She

"Beautiful Chrissy liked

"OK! Say hello to Christine Ann Davidson," she announced as she picked up a pen and signed her adopted name to an approval form attached to the Certificate of Birth.

She looked at her friends. "Now," she asked, "will you please stop calling me 'Chrissy'. It sounds so ..mmm..so childish! I like Chris! Besides, Christine is too long and awkward among friends. OK??"

"Ok, Chris," they all chimed as one, almost as if they had rehearsed it that way.

In the end, after a very long evening, Chris was urged by all of them to take the vacation with Ms. Miller and learn to live in and deal with the world from her new female perspective. They all agreed it would be the best experience for her since she could learn first-hand about a woman's world in normal society. Greystone Clinic was definitely not the place for that kind of an education. Finally convinced and heedless of the