What will you do?

[stephanie_craxford]

And it will come soon enough, Steph.

You asked for input from our more senior women.  At 69, I certainly qualify.  (Is there anyone at Susan's older than I am?)

My chapter in Tracie O'Keefe's book "The Real Me..." (or some, such, title ... I'm not at home to check) is about this very question  What comes after transition, with or withut surgery)?

My basic answer is that, as a woman (or a man), life still has to be lived.  Life is a journey, not a destination.  There will always be things to learn, things to do, challenges to overcome.  As we get older, though, we hope the everyday challenges lighten up a bit.

My particular answer seemed to be transactivism.  3 Boards (NTAC, TAVA, and TNET) and 2 media chairs.  Last night was an NCTE Board of Advisors teleconference.    That plus a husband kept me busy in semiretirement.  Had to drop some (but not my husband) when I was called back to full time work. 

I think many transfolk reach the point of wanting to pay back the community for support we have received.  Someone can always use a figurative or literal hand.

Robyn

Thanks so much Robyn.

Steph

[gina_taylor]

To be perfectly honest and to make my womanly life complete, I will not be requiring SRS. That is something that I have thought about for a lot of years, and either way it won't make much of a difference. For me at least it doesn't matter what's between my legs, but how I present myself, and I am quite pleased with that. My fiancee is also quite happy with me as I am as well.

Gina 

[Hazumu]

So, the anticipated event has come and passed.  You've seen the doctor and Mr. Johnson has retired.  Your GRS is complete.  The single most pressing issue in your life has been supposedly and finally resolved.

What's next.  What will be your next all consuming thing?  To what will you employ your passion and your life's thrust?

Are you planning for that? Or, are you working on it already?

Cindi

Ooo...another tough and tricky question.  (NOTE:  I decided to give my answer 'blind', without first reading the other responses.  Maybe after reading them I'll want to post another response, no?)

I think my answer is, "Life goes on."  I imagine that there will be an initial period of elation that I 'made it'...  But pretty soon routine would reassert itself, and I'd go about my days going to work, going home, shopping for groceries, visiting with friends, etc. -- all the normal life stuff.  But the difference would be I'd be addressed as ma'am, and in the majority of interactions I would be seen and treated as a female member of the human race.

Parenthetically, one of the girls in SGA said that she'd built several computers, both before and after transition.  She knew she'd been accepted as female when the sales-droids no longer talked up the technology and started pointing out to her the color of the case and the coolness of the graphics...

Some problems won't go away.  The same alpha-predator-males that now give me a ration because I let some 'effeminate' trait slip will continue to play their power games if and when they 'read' me.  And if they don't read me, I'm sure to be treated by them as a second-class just-a-woman.  So, that won't really change.

What do I expect to be better, to make it all worth while?  When I had my epiphany and accepted that I was truly transsexual and desirous of complete transition, a huge tension in my life -- always there, but I could never before identify the source -- was almost instantaneously reduced.  And as I proceed through transition, I note that the remnants of that tension continue to subside and that my feelings of joy, peace and contentment with my life continue to increase.

This SO feels like the right thing to do

Karen

[Chynna]

Go swimming without worrying about anything popping out.  At least not popping out downstairs.

LOL

Love it!!! Honest and to the point...
LMAO

Chynna

[Sheila]

Actually Cindi, You have hit it right on for me. I had surgery two years ago and I'm kind of at a loss. I have been retired but my passion for many years has been ->-bleeped-<-,whether it was out in the open or just me looking up term or crossdressing all my life. Now I'm who I have wanted to be all my life and I don't have a hobby or anything to fill time. I got a job as a school bus driver and its fun but I see it getting boring in a couple of years. I'm not worried about money as I have a very good pension and I also have save over the years. So finacially I'm pretty good, not rich, just good. I have done the volunteer work and I'm still doing it. Well, I guess I need a hobby.
Sheila