A recent visit to my therapist and a coffee shop

Cynthia Brown · May 28, 2026, 10:13:05 AM

I have been going out more and more and beginning to feel more comfortable. Yesterday was the second in-person therapy session. Normally we meet virtually and because of commitments before and after our calls, I usually present in drab. Having the opportunity to have a safe space to sit for an hour as Cynthia and talk thru what I want and accepting that I need to present in a feminine style more often and may be a trans woman. I have been wrestling with this for 50 years and perhaps it is time to land the plane. The main thing holding me back are the probable trade-offs I will have to make with family acceptance. That is still very important to me. In the meantime, as safely as I can I need more public exposure to satisfy myself that while I know I am not passable, especially on close inspection but rather that I am who I am and I am willing to be out and about.

I have been out to a few LGBT oriented coffee shops and that is fine. Yesterday I went to the coffee shop around the corner from my therapist, ordered a latte, sat at the coffee bar, hung my purse on the hook and just was. Then I drove to my therapist for our session. It was the first time she saw the full me in person. I had sent her some photos when we first were having sessions. She had given me the option to come in thru a back door but I figured that since I was at the coffee shop I would park in the lot, walk down the open hallway and just own it.