Innocence, in a Sense: My Life with Ev Callahan

Abstract

Born Evan Callahan on October 4th, 1989, Evelyn was transgender. Originally from Boston, Ev, as I've come to refer to her (a nickname her mother had always used), moved to Hawaii in 2001. She spent a mere five years in my life before she moved back to Boston in early 2006, but we stayed in touch through instant messaging. One evening, legs shaking, Ev was finally able to tell me that she was, in fact, a she. According to her, I was one of the hardest people to tell because I was most likely to have the most concrete memory of her as a male. I last talked to Ev on December 30th, 2009. Ev's dead body was found on the roof of her Boston apartment on April 4th, 2010, Easter, nine days after she had gone missing.