Moving Forward

[Melody A]

This is my first post in this section and, to tell the truth, I'm pretty excited.
Last November, my wife informed me that she no longer wanted to be married. To be honest, I haven't been a very good husband. I have never been unfaithful nor have I ever hurt her physically and I have never intentionally hurt her emotionally. I have been plagued with a lifetime of depression and anxiety which, over the last few years, had started to consume my life. Despite her continuous pleas to seek help, I did nothing but crawl deeper into depression. I believe I hit my rock bottom and she told me that she had grown tired of waiting for me and she had given up on me emotionally. I went into panic mode and scheduled an appointment with a therapist thinking she would reconsider but she made it clear that it was too late and she was ready to move on.
Early January, I started seeing a therapist. At the beginning of my first session, she asked why I was there and I proceeded to tell her about my life long battle with the depression and anxiety that I believe are caused by the suppression of my gender identity. Over my last couple of appointments, we discussed HRT and how to come out to family and friends. She asked if there was anyone in my life I would feel comfortable talking to outside of her and I was able to mention two, my sister and the mother of one of my daughter's friends. Well, today I took a huge step forward. A couple of days ago, I asked my daughter's friend's mom if she would be willing to meet for a coffee and if she wouldn't mind me baring my soul to her. She said yes and we decided on a time and place to meet. Although we are not really close, she is the one person I felt that I would be the most comfortable talking to. Her daughter, my daughter's best friend, is transgender. I told her the details of my therapy and my decision to explore the option of HRT. She instantly showed me the support and acceptance I was hoping for and mentioned that wants to meet up again soon and talk some more I could not be more blessed to have someone like her on my side.

Melody

[Brooke B]

I am so happy for you Melody! Its awesome to hear you have someone to reach out to.

[AlyssaJ]

Congratulations on finding and embracing your truth. The story of your marriage and the toll anxiety and depression took on it is probably familiar to many here. You've got my empathy in regard to that. Also good to see you've got someone to start building a strong support base with. That is so key in this journey. You've come to a good place here to find additional support. I hope you'll find the resources you need to help discover your own answers as you head out on this journey. The one thing I'll say from my own experience here is this: You're going to get a lot of advice from a lot of people and many times it may conflict. I'd encourage you to take it all in, consider everyone's shared experiences and then find the answer that fits you best. There are no absolutes or right and wrong ways to do this, you have to do what is best for you.