Ok, I took another step out from cover this morning.
Earlier, I invited a former colleague (and still close friend) to dinner on Saturday night. She accepted and is picking a spot.
I've been thinking seriously about coming out to her for several years. I know her to be very accepting, caring and open minded, and we have over the years shared a lot of our personal lives with each other. Except this one thing.
Last night I wrote an email message to her...didn't send it. I decided to sleep on it. This morning, I read it over, made some minor edits...took a deep breath and sent it to her private email address.
Now we wait and see.