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This novel is the story of my life, as I lived it. It is not written from the perspective of looking back with the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime. Like my life, perhaps every life, it is inconsistent, flows back and forth, as I struggle against
the fetters of conditioned thinking. Sometimes, for brief periods, I believe some things that now I realize were patently
foolish. Sometimes, although partially freed from my early training, I seem to long to believe ... or make apologies for those who do and much the same with my gender issues. First, I attempt to be a good man. Later I adopt the reverse and attempt to live as a good woman, and while that works for some, transgendered and transsexuals, it didn't work for me. It took me a long time to realize I was a blend, some part of me woman, and a part of man as well. And strangely, depending on the situation, each of those parts was more than half. It took a long time to rid myself of the religious conditioning, the unquestioned teaching of my youth raised a Methodist. And it doesn't stop there. Political and philosophical ideologies are no different, whether the leader is a believer or a non-believer. Organizations, of any type, will drain you of your money, your energy, and seek to control and command your mind and heart. If I had but one message to pass on from the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime, it is that life is short and at the end there is naught but oblivion. Live your life to the fullest, think your own thoughts, be your own person and if you must believe in something, believe in yourself and believe in those you love and who love you. This then, is the result of my life, an honest book, a life as it was lived. A life that led to freeing myself from religion, politics, philosopies, organizations and leaders. A life that has granted an intellectual freedom I joyfully embrace over the emotional comfort of giving myself over to "higher powers" whatever the form. |
In The Arms of A Rainbow
The Life of a 20th Century Galla
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY
Laura Darlene Lansberry
A nontraditional child is born into a traditional family.
A strange, precocious child, walking and talking earlier than most children, is slammed around by societal forces beyond her understanding. Her spirit and determination, courage and honesty, against the forces aligned against her, is inspirational. The final culmination, after a sprawling epic battle with the ignorance and superstition of a society steeped in gender dysphoria, is a monumental tribute to truth and the human spirit. Laura is one of a kind, a distinctly unique woman, and her friends and relatives, her men and her women, are singular characters portrayed with a delicate intimacy.
In the unforgettable love story which unfolds between Joan and Laura (and later when Julia joins them to form The Triad), is found the answer to one of life's greatest mysteries ...
Introduction to the Characters
Pictures and short snippets of the characters in Laura's life.
Go to Chapter 1
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