Annette MacGregor
This past weekend was, in most ways, far nicer than most have been over the past few years...
Why, you may ask? (Or, maybe not...)
This past weekend was another "important" step along my road to being myself. My family & I visited my wife's family (mother-in-law/father-in-law and her brother & his wife)... And, I was myself for the road trip (buying gas) and all but about two hours while there (we went out to dinner as a group, and I decided to not make an issue...) But, was seen by others out jogging/walking and drive byes and by folks selling.
Now, I never got maam'd... But I also didn't get strange looks either. (My 36Bs kept the cami from being flush to the skin... :-) (I do need to shorten the straps more than they are designed though, because the tops of my bras kept peeking out. LOL (Both daughters were quick to point this out to me when it happened.)
This gives me a LOT more confidence that Vacation has a chance to be smooth... Where, I'm planning on being ME for most (if not all) of the trip!
Now, if I can just get my daughters to remember to call me something OTHER than daddy... LOL I also need to work to keep my voice up in the higher end of my range... When I don't pay attention, my "guy" voice comes through - loud and clear. I guess commanding drill teams oh so many years ago trained my voice to CARRY. *sighs* This too shall improve. (I don't have a lot of volume with my higher voice... Though I've been assured it will improve.)
Can you tell how happy I was to get through the weekend without even trying to be a guy? If not, I've failed misrably in this blog.
Annette
Comments
Yep transition is mostly a lot of Baby steps but
... voice is a Giant Step though. It takes a lot of discipline, so don't get discouraged!
Hang in there!
Kim
Happy the
weekend was good for you, It's got to feel good to be yourself. I'm told by a few friends in transition they say good voice training is to sing along with your favorite female singers? I don't know if that'll help.
Bailey Summers
Thank you...
Another help is "practice, practice, practice". The yahoo group has an "every other Friday" chat session, where they help each other.
I may break down, and pay a voice therapist for some one-on-one time...
It is fun singing... :-)
Anne
voice is a biggee
A while back I did a bit of playing with a little recorder and a favourite newsreader and then some months trying to match her. A few clues from a website or two and some effort and while I will probably not get a job with CNN I do okay. Oh she did some years back. I think she's in Atlanta, Rosemary Church, just a lovely husky voice. Can be done. Go for it Annette.
Kristina
re: Road to Myself
Hi
This was a bit move not just for you but your family too. It shows just how wonderfully accepting they are. Often the family is overlooked and they have to adjust (or transition) to your change as much, if not more, than you do.
Are there problems with flying in the USA after 9/11 when your gender doesn't match your ID?
Hugs
Karen
Flying
My understanding is that the name on the ticket needs to match the name on your ID, and your photo should resemble you. There's no FEDERAL law about what you can/cannot wear.
So, since screeners are federal employees, there's no legal problem with your gender/ID. That said, bigots can be found anywhere...
Anne
I feel your lucky
I feel that you are lucky there. You have the means the family that does support you. What more can you really ask for. Best of luck with everything no matter what happens take care.
Yours Truly
Arina
Wonderful
It's almost midnight here but in my head it's not even twelve noon. Can't sleep. (Jet lag. Very first time. Cool!)
So I decided to surf a bit, and saw this little vignette.
Back home we like to believe that we have the god-given right to be happy, to be treated fairly, to have the same chances and opportunities as everyone else. But that doesn't happen all the time. There are people who fall through the cracks though. Like us.
Finding one's place is difficult even for the best of people and even with the best of circumstances. For people like us, it's light years harder, even if our own loved ones were understanding enough to allow us to.
So we try harder, find alternate ways to live, to be. And on the times that everything clicks together and things conspire to show how it could be, it's all the more wonderful and special.
It's great that you had a wonderful weekend. Hope that it's a precursor to better weekends and weekdays and all other days.
To see Bobbie's stories in BCTS, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
To see Bobbie's "Working Girl" blogs, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs
To see ALL of Bobbie's blogposts, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c
Thank you Bobbie, and...
Thanks to the rest of you...
It was a wonderful weekend... I'd love to be able to "report" many more... Who knows, maybe. :-)
As to the JetLag - yeah, been there, done that. Most recently about a year and a half ago - going TO Barcellona... I couldn't sleep on the flight... Worked all day. THEN, made the mistake of having a cup of coffee after the meal (I'd heard that Spanish Coffee was good...). Well, getting to sleep about 2am didn't make the conferences the rest of the week very easy, and I crashed every evening on return to the hotel. Successful trip, even if I did miss the evening partying.
Things are better today, than they were 25 years ago, when I learned there was a "name" that described the miss-match between my body and my head. Hopefully one day, more people like us will face less discrimination. Already, I'm hearing of earlier recognition.
Thanks,
Anne