Dear friends,

Just checking in to let you know I’m OK (though still hacking my way through a fairly dense forest), and to wish you a Happy Pride Month!

I also wanted to share this drawing that my daughter M. made – see below. (She gave me permission to share it with you, by the way. I think she’s pretty proud of it.)

Here’s the story behind it: Last week, M. told me that she wanted to tell a girl from school that she’s transgender. Per our usual routine, I reached out to the girl’s mom (whom I had never laid eyes on – also per the usual terrifying routine) and told her what my daughter wanted to tell her daughter. It went great. The mom was supportive and kind. I told M. that her friend’s mom was cool, and she could go for it.

Then my daughter said, “I’m going to tell her tonight via FaceTime, but first I’m going to draw a cartoon to explain it.” She did. And here’s the adorable resulting illustration. (I wasn’t allowed to listen to the conversation, unfortunately; she’s a tween, so when she made the call, she shut her bedroom door and told me, politely, to bug off.)

Please feel free to make use of M.’s explanatory cartoon to convince any doubters in your own lives that indeed, “transgender is totally normal!” And (my favorite part): “So what she has testes?”

Happy Pride from both of us! We love you!

Marlo and M.