Transvestia

thread, turning her head to me she said, "I don't really need anything in here but, it is usually quite crowded so it is a good place for your debut.... You look fine, dear, don't look so concerned....relax! You're as jittery as a new amputee on her first public appearance. Afraid people will sta re at her and wonder how she lost her leg. From here we'll go over to 'Dayton's'. I want some stockings and underthings and an elastic knee sock for you, then we can go to the Forum for dinner. The Orpheum has a very special act we should see. I think you'll enjoy it.

We hiked over to Dayton's, made her purchases and on to the Forum cafeteria. Grace carried the various items in a needlepoint shoppingbag. She was every inch the Duchess of crutches. Several heads turned to watch as we swung along.

We chose our meals cafeteria style. As we neared the cashier the manager spotted us wheeling along and whistled up a couple of bus-boys, 'to give the girls a hand. .to that nice table up front..near the window!

•

tt

I was so nervous and self-conscious that I could hardly concentrate on the job of eating. I expected, any minute to have someone come over and tap me on the shoulder and say. .! "Aren't you so-and-so from summer camp! I had the maddest impulse to get up and run...but, I realized I was hardly equipped for that sort of activity in my present state.

Good old perceptive Grace reached over, placed a hand on mine, soothingly she said, softly; "Relax..dear, you're doing fine." To further take my mind off myself she asked, "How is it you've never asked how I lost my leg? I've wondered many times since that is inevitably the first question put to any amputee. You've been posi - tively 'clammy' about it."

tt

Nervously I replied, "I just figured it was a personal thing you wouldn't want to talk about..like painful memories or something. I shuddered at the thought of her leg being torn off or maybe sheared off in some horrible grinding crash. "Well", she recalled. "I was a student nurse at Finnley Memorial and a group of us girls decided

56