The Son I Never Knew I Had

We didn’t have to mourn the woman Claude was becoming because that woman never really came. Rather than moving from childhood to womanhood, Claude just kind of grew up and became themself, which was someone who was naturally, even gloriously, in between. Since then, Claude has headed slowly but surely toward one destination, inching toward manhood on his own self-directed timeline. Just where on the spectrum he’ll end up is up to him; like a carpenter eyeing a level, waiting for parity,…