Okay, Tammy Hope, I guess I will add my bit as well. Honest I wasn't hoarding the great news, just been absorbing, processing and getting back into the swing of 'reality' since I got home.
Kieri, it was great to briefly meet you, I think it was Friday? Lose 10 more pounds? From where? You looked great, beautiful. I'm the one that needs to lose the weight, not you. But anyway...
Kieri did a great job summing things up. I was in my glory that week. I had just begun taking Spiro and anti-depressants a couple of weeks before, so I was already feeling awesome, better than I had ever felt in my life, going into SCC. So, for me the whole experience was life altering. I made so many new friends and talked to many others, who I can't even remember most of their names. The "60 year old men dressed like little girls with giant lollipops" was quite a weird and humorous scene. I was so amazed at the diversity of people attending the conference. On Thursday evening there was a transguy reception where everyone was invited to join. I think it was hosted by Chaz Bono. I met and talked to a bunch of people that evening and at one point just sat against the wall and studied all of the people from all over the gender spectrum and at all different points along their paths, from those who were out and dressed for the very first time ever, to decades post-op, cross-dressers, drag-queens, celebrities, and no-bodies (like me). It was incredibly fascinating and inspiring. The thing that completely blew me away was the fact that even with the widely divergent population there seemed to be this incredible sense of acceptance, family, and camaraderie among everyone. And I had seen that evident in every corner of the conference for the three days I was there. Everyone was an equal. I have never in my 49 years of life experienced any group of people that had that close a connection and love for one another, especially a gathering of a thousand or more people. For that reason alone, I will be returning to SCC again and again.
Kieri, you mentioned the AC and the near frigid temps. That is perfectly normal for Atlanta. I have been living here for 10 years now and am still dumbfounded by the people here. In the summer when it is hot (70+) they crank the AC to the max making it 60 degrees and complain about being hot. In the winter when the temps drop below 70 they turn the heat up to 75-80 and complain about it being cold. Silly people, never comfortable. LOL
There were a lot of good seminars and I gleaned a lot of good information from some, scratched my head over others, some contradicted others, some were not what was described, and some were of no use to me. But overall there was something there for nearly everyone. I did hear a lot of complaints from some attendees that there was not enough activities and support for the SO's and that was a shame, they deserve every bit as much support as the rest of us, sometimes more. But maybe that will be better addressed in the future.
I didn't leave the hotel at all in the three days I was there. Of course having lived here in Atlanta for 10 years, I have seen a lot so there was little sightseeing necessary for me. I really wanted to absorb all of SCC.
The hardest part for me and many others, especially first-timers, was the leaving, getting back into the swing of life. This is highly emotional and described as the SCC withdrawals. I'm somewhat fortunate that I am unemployed, because I have had the time to process my emotions and experiences. Several of my new friends have told me that they have had a very hard time. They have had to go straight back to work and being over-stressed with having to catch back up from their time off and also trying to process and deal with the emotional overload from this family reunion. The best advice I had gained was that when you attend SCC take 2-3 days off after to catch up on sleep (you will get very little of this while there) and to reflect on the experience and process the emotions.
I hope to see and to meet many of you next year at SCC 2011.
Deanna
