The Stephanie Chronicles

[stephaniec]

Well, today I'm living the unexpected that forces bravery to the surface. My mom had a heart attack on Saturday, and here I sit in the waiting room while she has open heart triple bypass surgery. There was no choice but to interact with countless medical professionals, and surprisingly, there have been no issues with me so far. It seems that I'm being accepted as Stephanie - my mom's daughter - as I deal one-on-one with everyone.

The only fly in the ointment is spending this time with Mom's hubby, who constantly (accidentally) deadnames and misgenders me. It really put me on edge. Some of their neighbors visited for a while, and at least half the time it was "Steve" or "he." It wasn't until

afterward that I found out that my Mom had already outed me to them, and they were fine with it. We'd had a decent conversation, and I should have gotten a clue when the lady went out of her way to tell me I looked really nice. So I'm weathering the storm, with the biggest anxiety now centered around how Mom's doing.

When I was thrown into this, I leaned heavily on the memory of when @HappyMoni had to attend a funeral as her authentic self, dealing with all those people as her true self for the first time. Though she was scared about it, she dove right into it, and it turned out fine.
When the situation demands it, I guess we can all rise to the challenge...



- Stephanie

The hospital I go to treats me very nicely ecept for the few nurses that cant deal with it ,but its rare

[steph2.0]

A quick update, and an eye-opening realization.

Mom is sitting up and the doctors say she's doing well. She's not up for visitors, so y'all wait before you line up at her door. Thanks for your concern.

Now the stunner for me:

Thinking back on yesterday, I now realize the enormity of what I'd done. It was surreal, but so right, that I introduced myself as Mom's daughter Stephanie to so many people, and so affirming that I was accepted as such unquestioningly. Better yet, both Mom and her hubby introduced me to everyone that way as well (even though hubby subsequently misgendered and deadnamed me the rest of the day).

Here's how I'd met everyone, as I finally toasted the end of a stressful day:



Another related story: There was a strange moment in the waiting room, when the nurse at the desk was calling around, trying to figure out where my mom was in pre-op so I could visit. She apparently misunderstood when I said daughter, and told the person on the other end that [Mom]'s mother Stephanie was trying to find her. At least she got the gender right, if not the age.  [emoji4]

Stephanie

[HappyMoni]

Hi Steph,
   I hope all goes well with your Mom. It is certainly a lot of stress on the family. I salute your strength in dealing with everything. Hugs for you at this tough time.
Moni

[Laurie]

Hi Stephanie,

   I was glad to hear your Mom was doing better. At least she seems to be getting better.  Those gender issues are theirs remember. They are not yours. You know who you are. If they don't,  well then that's their problem isn't it?

Hugs,
   Laurie

Sent from my LGL44VL using Tapatalk

[steph2.0]

Hi everyone. I have so so much to write about, but am so busy and so tired. Just letting you all know that mom is well and recovering, and I'm having the time of my life here at Sun-N-Fun. I have turned another page in my transition. I'll be writing for days when I get home, but for now I just want to mention that I met up with @Dani from the list here today.



Stay tuned!

Stephanie

[steph2.0]

Oh! Speaking of staying tuned, my job as volunteer here at Sun-N-Fun is as part of the media team in the light plane area. Paul Czarnecki and I are announcing all the aircraft flying the pattern on our runway, as well as doing interviews, etc.

But here's the cool part: we're also live streaming to the internet. If you'd like to listen in on our stream, go here:

https://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=lal

Scroll to the bottom for the Sun-N-Fun Paradise City feed and click one of the listen links. Specifically between about 10:30 and 11:30 EDT I'll be doing all the announcing myself. Please let me know how I sound. I'm pretty self conscious about it and would love some feedback.

Stephanie

[Northern Star Girl]

Hi everyone. I have so so much to write about, but am so busy and so tired. Just letting you all know that mom is well and recovering, and I'm having the time of my life here at Sun-N-Fun. I have turned another page in my transition. I'll be writing for days when I get home, but for now I just want to mention that I met up with @Dani from the list here today.



Stay tuned!

Stephanie

@Steph2.0  ....  Stephanie,  A great update...  certainly good news about your mother...  what a relief for you I am sure.

I am so envious of your Sun-N-Fun... and the "summer" clothes you are wearing... here it has been below freezing all week, raining and some snow... spring is here but we didn't get the memo where I live.
Thanks for posting that great picture of you and @Dani ... you both look great in the warm Florida weather.

Hugs,
Danielle

[KathyLauren]

Sounds like you are having fun!  I am envious: sun, warmth, airplanes.  I haven't had a chance to listen to your broadcast yet.

[KathyLauren]

Specifically between about 10:30 and 11:30 EDT I'll be doing all the announcing myself.

It's 12:05 ADT, so 11:05 EDT, and that's not you. 

[steph2.0]

I've been announcing solo since 10:30. Not sure what you're listening to?

[KathyLauren]

D'oh!  I clicked on the wrong channel.  RTFM.  Now, I've got the right channel, but I probably just missed you.

[Kendra]

When I first tuned in Stephanie was talking about a "short takeoff"   

It's really cool hearing the planes fly by as they're being described. 

Here's a one minute recording of Stephanie announcing at Sun 'n Fun 2018.  The link is a half megabyte - you'll probably need to wait a few seconds for it to load. 

Stephanie you sound great!

[steph2.0]

D'oh!  I clicked on the wrong channel.  RTFM.  Now, I've got the right channel, but I probably just missed you.

There'll be one more chance tonight when we start flying again after the main air show, probably about 5:30EDT. We'll fly fixed wing and weight shifts until about 7pm, then switch to the powered paragliders and ultralights until sunset.

I'm so glad to hear that my voice sounds reasonably good. I was freaking out about it, and I still hear whatsisname in my head.

The voice, however, is the only thing that's causing any anxiety here any more. I'm living the new normal, and finally really believing it. Gotta run, more later. Thanks for checking in on me and for the feedback!

Stephanie

[KathyLauren]

Kendra, thanks for recording that clip.  I might have heard Steph live when I went back after all: the voice sounded the same.

Steph, did you go over time, past 11:30?  I was listening at about 11:35, and you, if it was you, were talking about how they were going to close the airspace for manufacturer's demos.

Whether or not I heard you live, you sound good in Kendra's recording!

[steph2.0]

Kendra, thanks for recording that clip.  I might have heard Steph live when I went back after all: the voice sounded the same.

Steph, did you go over time, past 11:30?  I was listening at about 11:35, and you, if it was you, were talking about how they were going to close the airspace for manufacturer's demos.

Whether or not I heard you live, you sound good in Kendra's recording!

I work solo while my co-announcer Paul works the other side of the airport from 10:30 to 11:30, but all other times we work together. We're having a great time playing off each other and bantering. So yes, I did work until they shut us down at about 12:30.

Be back tonight!

[steph2.0]

Working the board and having a blast!

[steph2.0]

Ima talking! Are you listening?

[Kendra]

I wasn't able to catch the evening broadcast (was in my car), but found the Sun N Fun 2018 audio archives at https://www.liveatc.net/archive.php?m=snfpc

[Jayne01]

Hi Steph,

I'm very glad to hear your mother is well and recovering.

Sun-n-fun sounds like it was a lot of......well, fun!!! I heard some of your announcing from the clip Kendra recorded. You sound good and like you were right at home talking about your aviation passion. Wish I could have been there to also enjoy my love of planes and to meet my friend Steph.

Jayne

[steph2.0]

I wasn't able to catch the evening broadcast (was in my car), but found the Sun N Fun 2018 audio archives at https://www.liveatc.net/archive.php?m=snfpc

Oh cool! Thanks for pointing that out, Kendra. I see they only keep them available or 30 days, so I really want to download them all, but they're in 1/2 hour chunks. It could be a lot of work. I may contact them and see if it can be downloaded a day at a time.

I did listen to a few clips, expecting to hate what I'd heard, but considering I wasn't working too hard at it, it didn't seem that bad to me, even though I still hear whatsisname in my head. I realize now that I could have played with the equalizers on each of our mics to emphasize the lows on Paul's and the highs on mine, to increase the contrast in the voices even more. Next time!

Stephanie