The Black Tie Gala!

By Sherry Greer

Sher, did you wear a tie??

The day that I’ve been waiting for for over 6 weeks had finally arrived! The day of the black tie gala to support a local film called Chosen which is about adoption and stars Dean Cain who played Superman and Kevin Sorbo who played Hercules in the 90’s. I was SO excited! I wanted to dress as feminine as possible so I asked multiple people about doing my hair and makeup. Since the gala was on Sunday that was not an easy task. I first asked my sister to go and at first she said yes which made me extremely happy but had to change her mind due to family commitments. I then asked a friend to go and she said yes! At almost the last minute I found Leah, who is the bartender at a restaurant that Kandi and I have been to multiple times, to do my hair and makeup. She always looks AMAZING and is such a wonderful person so I was super excited for her to make me beautiful ❤️.

I started doing some preliminary things as my wife was still home and waiting for a few friends to arrive for their overnight trip. When she left I finished getting my undergarments on, putting my natural hair in a ponytail (my hair is long enough to pull my bangs down an inch past my chin!), applying small hooped earrings, long fake nails, and putting on female shorts and a cap sleeve t-shirt. I loaded up the car with my dress, makeup, and a bag with everything else and drove to Leah’s house. When I arrived at her house I had to park in the street a couple of doors down because a neighbor was cutting their grass and I didn’t want him to get anything on my car.

It didn’t bother me that I had to walk outside a little dressed as I was, I continue to build confidence being ME! Leah introduced me to her husband who had no issues with me and was extremely nice. It took Leah about two hours to do my makeup. She then helped me get my dress on which I got from Kandi! [Thank you Piece Unique!] The dress was a little form fitting, plus trying to not get any makeup on it, made me especially grateful Leah was there to help. It’s amazing to experience those little things that women go through! I brought some hair accessories and Leah quickly pulled my new wig back and put a flower in it. I looked at myself for the first time after she was done and was SO happy with the transformation!! I was running a little late, Leah’s husband helped us get everything in the car and got a quick picture of the two of us.

The gala was over an hour away from where I was so I asked my friend to meet me there instead of picking her up to save some time (I know what you’re thinking Kandi, me late??). [No comment.] I arrived a few minutes before she did so I made sure everything was just perfect with my appearance. We met in the parking lot and gave each other a hug and I thanked her for coming. Check in was right as we walked into the hotel and in my most feminine voice I gave her my male name to secure our seats (I had to pay with my credit card). Directly past that table was a photo-op backdrop and a woman was there to take our picture.

It was open seating and as we walked into the banquet hall we found a table that had one woman sitting at it and we asked if we could join her. She said yes and we introduced ourselves and ironically her name was Candy (maybe Kandi)! Three other ladies also sat at our table, two of which had daughters in the movie and the other lady was a grandmother of one of the girls. Throughout the evening we had dinner and casual conversation, if they knew I wasn’t as I appeared they never let on and treated me as a woman the entire night. Again, it was (is) SO reaffirming that I am treated with respect. The only bad experience I’ve had when I’m Sherry is when I didn’t allow myself to be ME!

After dinner we listened to the director and a few actors talk about the film and how important fostering and adopting a child is. After that I had the opportunity to get a picture with Kevin Sorbo (he’s so tall and I finally didn’t feel like an Amazon woman!) and the two people who I auditioned with for the movie. I didn’t get a role but they both remembered me and said my narrative Imagine that I wrote about myself was extremely moving. Before leaving, the director asked if anyone wanted to stay to be extras for a scene they were shooting for a political rally and a bar scene. My friend and I were told to move to another table which was directly next to the main table.

I sat just behind Kevin Sorbo! We sat with four other people and quickly started a conversation with them. The one couple were in their 20’s and the other in their 60’s. The younger woman told me she loved my shawl. I received multiple comments throughout the evening about my dress and hair! We were told when the camera was rolling to not make any noise but act like we’re carrying on a conversation! It was really funny to do that. The filming took about two hours so we didn’t leave until about 11:30. After saying goodbye to the young couple (we moved to another table with them for the other scene) and giving the woman a hug, my friend and I walked to the parking lot together where we hugged each other and said our goodbyes. I arrived home about 1am. It was a long day but I wanted to get some pictures so the pictures by myself are at 1:30am!! It was an AMAZING experience and I can’t wait to do something like that again. Putting everything together was nerve-racking, I bought multiple things online which I’m getting more comfortable doing.

Ladies, I know we all have our issues that we must overcome but get out and be YOU ❤️!

Stay beautiful-Sherry