Vol. 4, Issue 25
Free of Charge
Gender Identity
Thursday, June 22, 2017
I think we have a weiner
Mother to share her
journey of parenting a transgender child at Sarnia Speaks forum
W
TARA JEFFREY THE JOURNAL
hen Stacey Regimbald’s son told her three years ago that he wasn’t comfortable in his own body, she didn’t know how to react. “He said, ‘mommy, I feel like I was born in the wrong body; this isn’t right to me,’” she said of her now 14-year-old son Cody. “I thought, oh my gosh, where do we go from here? There’s no manual, no rulebook. It was very hard.” Cody’s birth assigned sex was female, but he identifies as male and has changed his name. At first, the transition made Regimbald feel like she’d lost a daughter. “I cried myself to sleep many nights, like I was grieving her, even though she was never really there,” she said. But the change only strengthened their relationship in the long run. “The fact that he could come to me, and be comfortable telling me something like that, is huge. He is so much happier now,” she said. “Now we can bond, whereas before, he was always so miserable. Now, we are like two peas in a pod.” Regimbald is sharing her journey as a parent of a transgender child at the upcoming Sarnia Speaks event, focused on gender identity, June 28 at the Sarnia Library. “Education is key. I just want people to be more understanding,” she said. Continued on page 2
THOUGH HE MIGHT BE somewhat vertically challenged, Oscar the dachshund wasn’t flustered when he arrived at the beach recently wearing his brand new ‘Outward Hound’ personal floatation device. “It’s our first time swimming this year,” said Oscar’s owner, Nick Desroches of Sarnia. “I wanted to see how he liked the new lifejacket.” Oscar seemed to find swimming after sticks an uplifting experience. GLENN OGILVIE, The Journal
Hundreds help build new home for Jamie CATHY DOBSON THE JOURNAL
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hen word spread that Jamie Stewart needed a new house that could accommodate his wheelchair, people from all over Sarnia-Lambton pitched in to help. Friends and family held fundraisers. Tradesmen offered skills free-of-charge. Complete strangers showed up on the driveway with cash. It became a real community
project. “A guy around the corner who hardly knows me came over and handed me $1,000 and told me to put it toward a new fridge that I could use with my wheelchair,” said Stewart. “Another guy just handed me $500. Some ladies even made me a quilt that I use when my legs are cold. People gave what they could. Whether it was $50 or $150, it is really, really appreciated,” he said. “I am so grateful.”
A year after his old house on Beckwith Street in Corunna was demolished, the 45-year-old quadriplegic has a new two-bedroom, accessible home on the same lot with efficiencies and conveniences to make his life easier. Stewart is not one to ask for help, said his sister Terri Neely. “He’s always been independent.” Accepting that so many people want to give to him has been both difficult and life changing. Last year, the condition of the old house had deteriorated
to the point Stewart lost sleep worrying about how he could repair the sinking foundation and leaky roof. He is a boilermaker but has been unable to work since he breaking his neck in a diving accident nearly 20 years ago. His small income doesn’t allow for major maintenance and his house was literally crumbling around him. That’s when his sister happened to talk with Teresa Bakker at a bible study where prayers were offered for Jamie. Continued on page 3
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