Two people stop on Broadway and look at the bus fares to various destinations, December 1, 1944.

Ernie Nevers, Cardinals star, squirms his way along the ground for a gain in a game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cardinals at the Polo Grounds, December 1, 1929. The Giants won, 24 to 21.

Brooklyn's leading rum runner, Vannie Higgins, and 36 of his men were caught by Treasury agents off of Clifton, Staten Island, December 1, 1931, as they were running in through the Verrazano Narrows in a converted British minelayer. But they had missed their supply ship in the night fog, so the U.S. Attorney's office had no option but to let them go.

Unfazed by the 17.7 degree Fahrenheit temperature, J. Kay and Nathan Turkel continued their chess game in Central Park, December 1, 1958.

In 1952, when Christine Jorgensen became the first transgender person to become well-known, there was little sympathy for her plight. The media treated it as a sensation to be laughed at. The Daily News's leading article ran:

December 1, 1952: Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty. George Jorgensen, Jr., the son of a Bronx carpenter, served in the Army for two years and was given an honorable discharge in 1946. Now George is no more. After six operations, Jorgenson's sex has been changed and today she is a striking woman, working as a photographer in Denmark. Her parents were informed of the big change in a letter Christine (that's her new name) sent to them recently.

Eleanor Roosevelt ladles soup into a bowl in the kitchen of the Grand Central Restaurant, December 1, 1932. The wife of the president-elect walked into the restaurant to help feed unemployed women.

my mother smiles down at me in an attempt to coax me out into the cold.

shhhh.

the sound fills me with dread. the smell is so comforting i could snort it like it was the air i needed.

the air i'd always needed, after my suffocation.

stop.

i've never moved fast enough; always been a deep sleeper, always taken too long to eat, or to rest. to brace myself for the frigid wind.

her smile is fading. i forget to breathe.

just stop for a second!

the chill freezes my bones, and they're so brittle they might shatter. it's always so cold. it's always so cold. something is wrong. it's so, so horribly wrong.

i'm no longer the one breathing, only dreaming.

i need you to relax.

my mother says, sighing. it's the calm before the storm, and i know i'm helpless to the wind.

the wind that will break my bones.

no!

she's had enough. we both know that i can't stay here. it's how the world works. the world is fair, and it's only fair.

i'm thrown out into the cold.

stop...

he emerges from the blizzard, his leather smell and hemp-smoke scent. he wraps me in a blanket. he finds me a shelter.

he gives me freedom.

i am safe here.

it's so fucking cold, and i am freezing to death. he doesn't make me warm, but i believe i am. this is only fair. this is only love.

he holds me as i fall asleep.

something is wrong.

my bones have splintered, cracking in the frigid weather. my mouth tastes of copper, and i can no longer smell my strawberry shortcake lunchbox. my body is tired. my body is tired.

i can no longer feel the cold when i go home, and so i seek it.

nothing is wrong.

We can’t do everything at CISR without our dedicated student employees and interns. This Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1, 2020), we are raising funds to provide students with internships and professional development opportunities in 2021. Through their work at CISR, students get the most out of their JMU experience by being a part of our work and interacting with the international humanitarian community.

Join us Dec. 1 to donate or spread the word about the CISR Student Opportunity Fund!