Growing Up
A short story about how others growing up can affect you.
I have been working overseas for some time now because I lost my job and wasn't able to find a job that paid well enough. That has been difficult on us at time but I do this to support my family. I call home every day usually early during the day their time. A few days ago the call went a little different than normal.
My daughter answered the phone with a shy "Hello".
"Hi honey, how are you this morning?" I asked.
"I'm ok" she answered but still rather shy.
Wondering what could be wrong I ask "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" she answered still kind of unsteady.
Now I'm wondering if something serious is going or if she was in trouble for something I didn't know about yet.
"Well then can I talk to mommy honey?" I asked.
"Sure" she answers.
She is still talking rather shy almost as if she had done some wrong. I hear my wife grab the phone as if she was waiting.
"Hey, what's up with Katie?" I ask.
Half in a whisper but in a slightly amused voice she answers "She started."
Not fully understanding I ask "She started what?"
Still in a half whisper and slightly amused voice "She started her period" my wife answers.
WOW, I thought so soon. She won't be 11 until march. I wasn't expecting this for a while. In a way I was expecting to be home for this. I take a minute to compose myself.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'm pretty sure and also she had been extra bitchy for a bit now" my wife explains.
My wife goes on to explain about giving here supplies and teaching here the basics. She goes on to explain that she has noticed my daughter being as she said "bitchy" recently and explained to her how to deal with that.
I'm still in shock here is my daughter growing up and me not being there. I'm happy for her to be growing up and moving into her new stage in life. However, inside I'm feeling regret and jealousy. She is experiencing the thing that I never will. She is starting her journey into becoming a woman with this simple act. That is something that I will never experience, something that I can never have, something that I want to have.
Before I lost my job I had expressed my feelings to my wife about how I felt about my body and my desires to become a woman. At first she took it very hard. It was a difficult few years and we almost separated as a result. However over time we came to terms with what was happening and were starting to develop a plan. Then I lost my job and need to support the family, so the plans were put on hold. I keep thinking about this during our call and how things could have been different.
The call continues however I am distracted now but my wife continues with how she is helping my daughter out. Giving her the welcome to the club speech and talking about getting a small welcome to the club gift. Again I am hit with jealousy. That is a club I am barred from membership to. I can look at the part but never become a part. We continue the call but it ends shortly later with me a slight bit put off.
I feel happy for my daughter. I love her greatly and would do anything for her, but I can't help but to feel a bit envious of her as she begins her journey to become a woman.
Kelly
Comments
Growing Up
Good story tells a little of what we all wish for and a club we would like to be part of KUDOS to you I hope you write more stories about your growing Up young lady without invading her privacy HUGS RICHIE2 PS. HOPE YOUR HOME FOR FIRST BRA SHOPPING
I like the
touching and evident love you described with Kelly and her wife with working through things and the bittersweet pain of it all. I'm wondering if part of the daughters quiet is from knowing how her father feels about needing to be who she really is. It'll be interesting if you go further with this. I liked it as sad as it ended I still liked it.
Bailey Summers
Thinking of this a lot today...
...setting aside regrets and loss and grief isn't easy, especially the deaths we mourn and maybe Kelly mourns are our own. Thank you for writing such an insightful if painful portrait of what could have been. Excellent!
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
glad you posted
And I was honored you let me see it before everyone else, giggle. Good job!
"Treat everyone you meet as though they had a sign on them that said "Fragile, under construction"
dorothycolleen
Thank You.
I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and appreciation of my first story. I would like to thank those that helped me proof this story and for their input. I would like especially thank Jonelle for telling me I should write this story.
I am thinking of writing more in this line but just working on the ideas for now.
Thanks again,
Hugs,
Kelly
I Was Happy To Help Kelly!
[email protected] It's always good to have new authors here. Everybody's perspective is a bit different. The variety of voices make this a very special place. If you need any help in the future or just need to talk, I'll be here for you. Welcome to the family!
Thank You,
Love And Hugs,
Jonelle
[email protected]
An old problem
viewed from a new angle. Well done.
S.
Becoming a woman.
In my blog there is one called The Times They Are A Changing. You should read that. It isn't that we are barred from belonging to "the club", it is just that we have to work a little harder at it, without being obvious. There are many pre-op and post-op TS that belong to "the club", and some of their GG counterparts aren't even aware they are or have been male. Being a woman is a 24/7 job with no coffee breaks or vacations. Being a woman is an attitude, a way of life. We can have the srs, and we can look the part, act the part, and wear the clothes, and have the hair do's. We can even change our names to a pretty sounding feminine name, but, just because we have been male, does not forbid us from being a part of "the club". I have been a welcome member of "the club" since I was little. My girl friends and even some of the guys treated me as such a member.
The first part of becoming a woman is pride. We have to be proud of who we are. The second is strength. We must have the strength to open the closet door, smooth out our skirts or dresses, and walk with our head held high, shoulders back, and act like we own the world. Look at GG's when they enter a room. They look straight ahead, and walk as though they own the world. This is what we have to do, too. My coming of age stories tell how families should raise a transgendered child. Chrissie is my first book and is for sale. The information is on my page, but I will put it here. Chrissie by Barbara Lynn Terry, ISBN: 1-4363-9322-1; ISBN 13: 978-4363-9322-5 (paperback); ISBN: 1-4500-8063-4; ISBN 13: 978-1-4500-8063-7 (ebook). The paperback is for sale at www.bn.com; Target.com; or from the publisher Xlibris Corporation www2.xlibris.com.
This book says it is fiction but is 97% fact and is how I lived my pre-adolescence. Read the quotes I have put at the bottom where I have my name. When you have pride in yourself, you gain the strength to be confident in who you are. When you are proud of who you are and have the confidence to show the world who you are, then you have become a member of a very exclusive club. There will always be women who will reject you through ignorance and misinformation, but you can deal with them. What matters are the friends you have that do accept you for who you are.
As for not being able to have a period or bear children, remember that there are women who are born barren that can't have this either. You were just born a barren woman with a birth defect. This was a nice story and well thought out. Thank you for sharing.
"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."
Love & hugs,
Barbara
"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."
"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."
Love & hugs,
Barbara
"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."
Thank you
Thank you for the great feedback. I got me really thinking of things in a new light.
Hugs,
Kelly
Wow! Regardless of the
Wow! Regardless of the length, you got me... I heard your voice and felt what you were feeling. The beauty of a short story is to get right too it and you NAILED it!
Looking forward to reading more!
Growing Up
Kelly, I hope that in time that you ealize your dream and join their club.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine