From the book pile

I’ve finally read one of the books on my list of “Authors to read”. Armisted Maupin’s “Tales of the City” was the basis for the BBC television series of the same name that starred Olympia Dukakas as Anna Madrigal, the landlady of a block of units in the heart of San Fransisco.

I had always admired the character of Mrs Madrigal, even before I knew people like her really existed. Know I know that she was a trans-gendered person — and I have now been blest with knowing two of them and count them as good friends and admire them as people who have been able to be completely honest with themselves and chosen a path that has to be one of the most difficult to follow. I think the thing I admire most about these women is that they choose each day to face the stupid comments, ignorance and prejudice just so that they can the feel the essential certainty of who they are, that most people take for granted.
Perhaps it may have been easier for them, perhaps for some of those around them anyway, to have conformed and just become increasingly unhappy how they were. But they chose the hard path that is openly honest about whom they are and who they want to be. It is not an easy roe to hoe, but I have to admit that the grace and courage of their every day choice reminds me to keep plugging away when life gets tough.

I would, however, like to have the style of a Mrs Madrigal one day, and be surer of my actions in the way she seems to be. I think it is the ability to assess and accept the consequences of her actions that I admire most, and the way in which she looks after those who lodge beneath her roof.
I look forward to reading more of the stories; apparently there are several books in the series all dealing with those who stay for a while with Mrs Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane.