This year, as we did last year, my daughter and I will travel two hours to Portland for the Holidays, to spend four nights with my late wife’s side of the family - staying with one of my sisters in law and her husband, and celebrating with her daughter, her daughter’s husband, my other sister and law and her husband, and several of their friends. We will arrive mid-day Christmas eve, and stay for a full day of after Christmas shopping with our host sister in law and her daughter, so the four of us have a ‘Girls-only’ outing at the mall after-sales. My in-law side of the family are completely accepting of my transitioning, so the stuff with them should be great. I should also be able to visit a niece who is my sister’s oldest daughter, her husband, and their three year old twin girls - my great nieces. Their family, as well as my sister’s other three kids and their spouses or SO’s also accept my transitioning and welcome me as a woman.

But... while my sister loves and accepts me, her husband totally rejected me from the moment he first heard I was cross dressing part time. He has banned me from any family gatherings at their home that he is at. Which means I can’t celebrate Christmas with my only sister, or my closest blood relations on my own side of the family. *sigh* At my sister’s request, her husband has been kept in the dark about my having transitioned fully, because he already gives my sister a hard time about me, and he would get far worse if he knew I was full time female now. This has made it difficult for me to come out to various cousins and old friends who I only have contact with via my old male Facebook account, because that hateful brother in law can see that account too easily

It is possible that my sister may manage to meet me somewhere, without her husband, while I am there. She lives a few hours further north, but could conceivably make a trip by herself to one of her four adult kids’ homes, or to some neutral place, and arrange to meet me there. Or I may not get to see her at all.

Oh well... considering the troubles many trans people have with family rejection, I count myself as lucky to only have one negative relative.