Hello. The road to enlightenment is often long, difficult, and not without the sudden hair-raising blind turn. After almost 52 years of travelling the road less travelled, with more than my share of rough patches, and blind turns, I'm about to take a new road that will require my family's love, understanding, and a serious revision to how they see, or identify me. My 23 year marriage ended, in no small part, because I thought I might be gay. But, despite being in a very male oriented professional career, spanning three wars, the truth is I never felt gay. I felt female. As much as I'm attracted to men, I'm not interested in homosexual sex. One of my happiest memories was when a strong man (even though he was gay) took me to dinner, wined and dined me, then took me to his home. There, as I was looking out his backyard window, he moved behind me and with his powerful hands, held me tight and kissed the back of my neck. I remember feeling like a real woman. Anyway, that was a long time ago, and it's about time I started hormone therapy. I'm scheduling my first doctor's appointment, and hope to initiate facial feminization surgery in 12 to 18 months.... I'm surprised at how easy the decision was to make.
I tried to tell my x-wife last week, but stopped short. We spoke obliquely about transsexualism and she was very supportive, however, I didn't have it in me. I did tell my son and he was wonderful. With a hint of humor he expressed his support and understanding. He's preparing for med school and has always been interested in sexuality. My daughter, on the other hand, will be difficult. We're a well known family and she'll worry about the inevitable gossip.
Thank you all for sharing your stories and pictures. Inspirational, indeed.
