The Initiation

They smiled and welcomed me into the fellowship, the formerly disdainful looks softening as they congratulated me for no longer allowing myself to "walk around like that." I made my way through something that resembled a chiaroscuro painting--blurred light, everything made disproportionate because I was viewing it all through ironically sad tears. Their applauding hands occasionally reached out to rub my shoulders, and give little pats of affirmation. "Now you are just like us," those touches seemed to say. I understood that they generously wished me well with a sincerity of heart not even the nicest of them had felt toward me before.

Here are the things of which I was now worthy:

Love
Respect
Deference
Someone else's yearning
Sophistication
Admiration
Any social role other than "funny girl"

"Now you are thin, Kate, come up to where you belong."