I have not run away, I have just been busy! I took photos at four different softball tournaments over the last two weekends and have over 15,000 photos to go through. Hopefully I will finish before high school softball starts. At one tournament yesterday a woman even asked if I would take photos of her daughter's game. I did not have any other games scheduled, so I photographed one of their games yesterday, and another one today.
I spoke to the high school softball coach last Tuesday. I had told her about my transition a few months ago. She knew 'him' for two years, but she had never met me. I went to one of their practices to say hello. I recognized many of the players, and one of them even knows about me, but none of them seemed to notice. After practice I talked to the coach for about 40 minutes. I told her some of the stories from my transition and had her laughing most of the time. She said she was amazed about how transparent I was being. Whether or not I will be taking photos for the high school is still undetermined. In early August she will have two parent meeting, one for everyone and a second for returning parents. I will be able to talk to the returning parents and answer any questions they may have. I have been taking photos at the school for seven years, so they all know me, or rather they knew 'him'. The parents will basically vote to see if I will be welcome back. At some levels this stinks, but I also do not want to be somewhere I am not welcome. After all if they are uncomfortable with me after all of these years, why would I want to keep spending hundreds of hours taking and editing photos for free? I expect it will be fine, but if not I will take the high road and abide with their decision.
Today my younger daughter called, she is working at her college in New Mexico over the summer. She rarely calls, texts, or sends emails. We talked for about an hour and had a great conversation. Near the end she said something unexpected, she basically asked me to come down and visit her. This brought tears to my eyes. She has become very independent, and she has never requested a visit before. She has accepted and supported my decision, but this goes much deeper. This gives me hope that I will be able to build a new relationship with her.
Yesterday my wife and I went out to eat. On the way inside a woman leaving the restaurant looked at me and said 'I love your dress!' I have already gotten more compliments about my wardrobe than 'he' ever did!
