i made friends with a ghost and we would have picnics at his grave, lemme explain. I enjoy visiting cemeteries. my mom is super goth and its just what we spent time doing. i was on a walk early in my medical transition and came across this cool fenced grave (comments 4 the rest)

When i looked at the stone it read “Born Leslie Carter Hansen, Died Eric Ladd 1920-2000” i immediately cried so fucking hard. At first glance, Eric was also trans in my mind. Not only was he born in 1920 but lived 80 years of life. A trans elder! The thought of this shook me so hard that i sat there crying for an hour at its impact. I’m a historian so i did some digging and found that Eric Ladd was actually his stage name. Eric was however an out gay man and socialite with an interest in architecture. Eric Ladd’s grave became a meeting place where i contemplated queer longevity and how impactful the idea of trans elders was for me at a transitional point in my life (and identity). I visited him at every point in my medical transition and left him flowers. He became a funny part of my friend group and everything. I can only hope one day a gaggle of gays has charcuterie at my grave in the vey distant future. 🪦💖 Love you Eric. 🌹

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@deejmac aw thank you for reading! 🌹

@iamartisticking 💖

Wonderful, I love that. There is a regular feature in the Guardian newspaper with very short stories like this called ‘A Moment that changed me’. I imagine they would like your story. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/a-moment-that-changed-me

@justben i havent heard of this! What a cool project, i will definitely give it a try (and enjoy other little moments people have shared) thank you for reading and sharing that with me ☺️

This is so sweet!!

@strwberrybutter_ Thank you 🥰

@pigeonboy such a meaningful meet 💖✨

I love this

@sokcheat_berry indeed! i will never forget our friendship 🌹

@kaliperry thank you 🥰

Thank you for sharing ❤️

@andyvibes of course thank you for reading! ✨