When my younger child came out as non-binary in their early 20s, the story of this middle school science project took on additional resilience and poignancy. The memory keeps me going when I'm feeling devastated by the hatred and violence against the LGBTQ community. So do the cows that still graze by the electric fence across the street from my house, providing a sense of normalcy and hope in these darkening times.

D. Dina Friedman’s new short-story collection, Immigrants, is forthcoming this fall. She has published widely in journals and is the author of two YA novels, Escaping Into the Night, and Playing Dad’s Song and two books of poetry, Wolf in a Suitcase and Here in Sanctuary, Whirling.

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