One doesn't choose one's family... They just are.

The night before last, I was playing "Farmville" on Facebook (I play, to help out my daughters, yep, that's my story and I'm keeping to it) and I got a "Hi" from my brother.

Facebook chat's okay. Not as nice as regular chat, but it works. There's times, like last night, that I'm not sure if including chat there's a good thing.

In any event, for a while, things weren't too bad, one might almost say pleasant. Then, he mentioned the "Coming Out" letter I sent him. (I live in NJ & he's over 1,000 miles away in southern, MS). He said he wasn't to happy with what I said. I still wasn't that surprised. I can't really imagine anyone really being excited by such an event.

In any event, he went on and explained how I was obviously wrong in my confusion. That there were only two kinds of people in the world, it was patently obvious that I was a guy. No acceptance that there might be anything else possible and no willingness to listen to anything that might differ from his world view. (He did eventually get down to specifics which he said explained everything… Testees & Penus — though, he called them coarser things.) Somehow, I don't think he'll accept surgical correction of the problem either.

That said, he apparently doesn't "Hate" his "confused older brother"… But as far as he's concerned that's what I am and what I'll always be, his older "Brother"… (He does have the family STUBORN gene, so, it's likely that's what he'll always say.)

I guess I can take solace in that he's not gone totally ballistic on the issue, and the fact that we live over a thousand miles apart… It's also a BETTER reaction than I'd expected, if I'm totally honest with myself. Time will tell. Needless to say… Needless to say, I didn't take his offer to "talk through my confusion".

I do wonder how things will go, as I move forward toward transition… I guess I should be glad for the support I've already gotten (from my wife, kids and wife's family) and just hope that my cousin's reaction is more representative of my side of my family than my brothers…And that nobody goes further than my brother.

Don't worry; I know I'll eventually run into total aggressive rejection. I just hope it doesn't hurt my wife and kids, too. Their support and help has been wonderful!

If anyone got this far, thanks.