This peice comes to us at a perfect time, our minds needing a more intimate look at gender and genital issues. It's interesting, sad, enriching, intense, informing, fulfilling...I was interested in the wife's (and culture's) homophobic response, (that severing withdrawal of her hand in public.) Also, the shock on the children, and lack of shock- kids are so creative...I had never imagined that point of view... This is a sad story, so intense and full of suffering, and yet it's also a story of liberation and fulfillment; the final maturation of a healing process the family and community supported and encouraged. This short piece condenses a huge world into a rare gem shining into a facet of our collective story worth a more intimate look, especially considering we are all still participating in a culture war. With Kirby's work, we can enter the world with a more genuine perspective, a more informed perspective, and therefore, this art transforms. It's and artifact, it's an embrace, from our collective future, because it's expressing (and invoking!) a bigger heart and mind. As Eric said, this is an affecting, honest, and well-mixed human interest piece. What to go Kirby!

what's with the beeps? very distracting.