That time in my plan came and I was able to stick to it. Yesterday I was ready to post to "Steve's" Facebook. Of course I was up early, but that is getting to be a habit anyway. First thing I always do is text my oldest daughter to chat. After talking about a couple of things, I ask her if she is ready and she says yes. So I flip over to my browser and paste in my prepared post and I was hit with those ole emotions. After a few kleenexes and deep breathes, I hit the post button and the magic started. I heard from family, current friends, Army friends, high school friends, and best friends growing up. They were all fantastic. It was a day to remember for me. Many called me Sue in their posts and multiple offers of us getting together since it had been so long since we seen each other. The surprise was a private message from one that I thought would be a goner. He started with "Boy are you going to be one ugly B*". Then he poured the love on. That helped me know my world was right. I can do without the joke again. The truth hurts.Now I do realize the reality is that some opinions might change once they have to be physically with me, but you can't have a better start.
So today was work. I started with my Manager. I had to explain what being Transgender means, but he is a very kind and level headed guy, so we had a great talk. He even brought up the reality of social transition before I got to it. He then set us up immediately to go see my Director, who I work closely with a lot. That was only about 15 minutes, but went quite well too. We have been through 4 layoffs in the last year and a half and the subject came up. He stated "I will not allow any of my people to be laid off for who they are". Then it was on to HR. We have a system that groups have a specific representative, so I saw him and had never met him before. After shaking hands and sitting down, I started explaining what I was doing. As soon as I said I was transitioning, he congratulated me. Then he started getting notes on my wishes. He then started asking me how I wanted to communicate this to everyone. I said I will wait until he tells his bosses. We have 3000 people in our division, so it is better led by them. Our talk lasted all of 10 minutes. All three were good with my desire to take the 6th and 7th of October off and come in on the 8th for the first time. Ironic that the 7th is my 25th wedding anniversary. Maybe she will do another 25 with Sue.
So I believe I have navigated all my preliminary gates and I couldn't have asked for it to have gone better. There is absolutely more, but I am on cloud nine for now. It looks like I will focus on name changes and start the social transition outside of work. Next week my daughter flies in for a convention for a side business we do. I will be seeing almost all of those people as the true me for the first time. We also have a formal event the first night. Ride the wave while it is going good as you never know when the wave will flatten out.
