Jason Howard Green

Jason Howard Green

Monday, September 28, 2015

Rest In Peace: Sache VanCartier

I met Sache VanCartier (aka A.C.) many years ago, shortly after Chris and I first relocated to Phoenix.  Somehow I got involved with N.C.C. (National Capital Cities Pageantry System) and pageant owner Jalissa Andrea Michaels.  To be honest, I still don't remember how this came to be, I just remember that somehow they had me competing in the Mr. Southern Regional competition.   
Sache was a title holder in the N.C.C. system at the time. She would go on to earn several titles by the way, but at this time in the late 90s, we were both pretty new to this pageantry stuff.

I was a Mr. contestant and would frequently share the stage with the likes of Byron Lord and Sean Boone.  We were usually left to our own devices but occasionally the misters would be invited out to share the stage with the drag performers.  

It was a lot of fun and I met sooo many interesting folks during this time.  Sache was one of those folks.  I remember Sache as being approachable, friendly, warm, and always smiling.  She was soft spoken but charismatic.  She seemed shy but easy to engage.  Whenever I had to attend a show of NCC title holders, if Sache were there I always ended up talking with her most of the evening.  Though we never got really close, I remember how easy it was to have a conversation with her.

Life happened and my time attending drag shows decreased as I became more focused on career and school and  activism.  Then my time going to bars altogether disappeared.  One day I had to make a rather unpleasant trip downtown to court to deal with a ticket I had received.  While making my way through the lobby who did I run into, none other than AC.  He had mentioned to me previously that he worked in law enforcement [side note, never stereotype female impersonators, some of them work in the most difficult, most masculine jobs there are].  It was interesting to see him in this environment. We chatted about me seeing him for the first time in his uniform and he scolded me about not taking care of my car's registration.  And then we went our separate ways.    

Several years later I ran into him at a friends wedding.  I noticed he had lost a lot of weight and I complimented him on how good he was looking.  Being that we hadn't seen each other in years, we took a few moments in the back of the church to catch up with each other.  He asked about my partner Chris.  I asked him how was work going and how were his shows going.  It was a pleasant although brief exchange.

Then today I saw a post on FB that someone heard that Sache passed away.  I called a friend who verified what I had read was true.  Sache died last night after several years fighting cancer.  When I saw her she did not disclose this personal ordeal she was going through.  When I see people who've had a tremendous weight loss, I am never one to assume the worse.  I thought her weight loss was an achieved goal of her's.  But let's be honest, no one is going to reveal their personal health obstacles with an acquaintance they hadn't seen in years.  I know I wouldn't.

Nevertheless, it is still very saddening news for me to learn about the drag community's loss of Sache VanCartier.  Sache, you were always so nice to me and it was always a pleasure to be in your company.  Maya Angelou once said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  This is the reason I'm mourning this loss. It was always a pleasant feeling I had when I was with her.  It is indeed discouraging knowing that I will never again have one of those chance encounters 

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