Hello,
I am a happily married (39 yrs this month ) 13 year Post Op TS. I am a retired vetran and I transitioned while working in the Post Office. I was shocked to find I was the 11th gilr to make the journey in the Baltimore area. I also found out that the majority of the girls used the same surgeon, Dr. Schrang in Wisc.
I knew that I was different from about 3, apparently so did my mom. I found several pictures of me in cute dresses and long blonde hair. This went on for about a year befor my father arrived home early and found me dressed and enjoying life. That ended with a trip to the barber with me screaing NOOOO all the way.
From then on I was pushed, and I mean literaly pushed into all kinds of sports and stuff. I learned to be a good actor early in life, and actually found I was good at baseball, I ran track and I learned after I was pushed into football that I had to be a very mean little SOB to survive. I was 5' and 115lbs in the 8th grade. I new that the feeling inside was totally opposite of what I porteyed but I couldn't tell anyone. I was always pushed into copatition with my father in anything we did no matter how trivial. As I got older I found I took pride in the fact I started beating him in these trials.
I had been crossdressing at every chance I could, I even showed my new me to my babysitter. I wish I could say that went well but it didn't. Since I didn't have any one to help I know I looked horrible but I had just bared my soul and got laughed at for the effort. The upside.... she never told on me. Later that same year I found a book, actually a magazine that told the story about a TS in france and the light went on..... I was not totally alone.
During a snow day I worked p the nerve to ask my Mom if I could dress like a girl just to see what it was like. Disaster!!!!!!! I had heard the word queer used at school but when my mother used it asking me if that was what I was, I was devistated. Needless to say that was never brought up again. I think that was when I was so ashamed of my self I set out to prove that I was super macho. I started lifting weights, played football and dropped baseball for the more manly sport of wrestling. My coached new that my being 5'3" was going to be rough on me while growing up and he tried to help me in his own way.... He forced me to box all the bigger guys in my class, I got my butt whipped the first couple of times and I learned to hit first and the most.
I still tried to crossdress but I was finally larger than my mom. So I lost my source of clothing. After Graduation (1966) I got a job working in a hospital as an orderly, Then disaster... I got my draft number! So out of shear terror I enlisted in the Navy and after bootcamp I went to Corpschool (medical corpsman) I was trained in nursing and I loved that part and the emergency medicine side also and I was good. Then I was sent to Fleet Marine school and trained to be a field Corpsman. Then 18 mos later I was sent to Viet Nam!
Bravo 1/3. I was sent with the Marines into comabt. During this time I found a book by Virginia Prince about a crossdresser and his wife. I wrote to Virginia and adopted the name of Jackie (only temporary) she sent me books about crossdressers(Transvestia) But most importantly I had someone I could pour my heart out to. I got wounded the first time in 1968 when I covered a wounded Marine with my body. that Dec 22nd '68. The second time was when I lost almost my whole company, 32 of us out of 144 came out of that. I was sent to Japan and eventually home. I was stationed in Maryland and that is where I met my now wife. I was still writing to Virginia and she gave me the most sage advice I have ever gotten. Tell my future wife now .... before we got married. I gave her books to read and we talked... and talked and due to all the reading I had done I was able to answer her questions. And then she answered mine.... she said yes!
We got married and I was sent to Bethesda Naval Hospital for training as a Lab Tech. While writting to Virginia she informed me that they had a local chapter of Tri ESS there. I joined and after a couple of meetings I found out that one of the members worked in the maintenance dept at the Hospital. I met her and Di and I met her wife and she helped Diane to get a better handle on our "hobby". Thus I was an active crossdresser my whole 21 years in the Navy. Towards the end of my carreer, I noticed that while I was Me, Gloria, (the name Diane and thought fit better) when it came time to go back to the male self, I got angery and withdrawn. I had also started taking Di's birthcontrol pills. This helped my moodyness some but not enough. My retirement physical was kinda unique, the Dr asked me about my slight brest development, I just played dumb and looked I had no clue(easy for a blonde, me) And he gave me the green light to retire.
I had gone to an electronics school (followed in my fathers footsteps) and got hired by the post office. 5 yrs later Di and I were seeing a psycologist about a problem she had at her wrk place when Andy (the Dr) mentioned at what a well balanced couple we were, so I burst his balloon the next session by bringing him a large stack of Gloria's pictures. So I got my own appointment with him. In the mean time Di and I continued our crossdressing adventures, I found a beauty shop that understood, my hair started growing out and we met a lady that ran a womens wear shop that was willing to help. These people went out of their way to help me come out to the world. I actually worked in the dress shop when not at my normal work.
My wife finally figured out what was happening to me, I was in denial, and informed me at one of our Dr's visits that I was transsexual. From that day forward, that was my path. The Dr got me to an endochronologist and I started hormones under a Dr's care. That was the day I started down the trail of Bejamin's standards of care. Once the breast development progressed I went to the plant manager and we worked out how I would transition and 2 yrs later I went to Wisconson and came home ME!!!!!!!!
It has been wonderful ever since. There were potholes and problems along the way but I had a wonderful support grouup at work as well as home.
Sorry for the long ramble but that is how I am where I am at.
Gloria
