MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL: A Tale of Two Moms, Part I

This is the first of a two-part account of Christy Webber and Jennie Rule's journey to motherhood.

It's tough to out-butch Christy Webber. The small-town girl from Montrose, Mich. ( near Flint ) , grew up loving to hunt, fish, skate and snowmobile. The outdoors was her playground. As a teen she was the National Powder Puff Motorcross Champion. She attended college at the University of Denver, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in physical education and played sports for the university, most notably as a star on the women's basketball team. After college Webber worked briefly as a P.E. teacher, but always felt she had some bigger contribution to make. Soon after, she discovered that something and over the next two decades Webber has made an impressive name for herself in Chicago with her landscaping business.

 

Jennie Rule met Christy Webber eight years ago at Girlbar on North Halsted. That night, Rule recalls coming down the stairs and being first captivated by Webber's white shoes. At first glance she thought, “Thank God; finally a lesbian with some fashion sense!” At that point in her life, Rule had been with a couple of women, but was looking to go back to men. In the months to come, Webber would change all that.

A theater major at Western Michigan University, Rule moved to Chicago to study at Second City. After graduating from their conservatory, Rule performed in a number of plays and musicals in Chicago. The evening she met Webber, Rule was planning to move to New York City in three weeks. She did relocate and by the end of the summer had been cast in the nationwide tour of the children's classic “Lyle Lyle Crocodile.” The show earned Rule her union card. When the tour ended, she returned to Chicago.

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