Tomorrow is my 82nd birthday, and it serves as a reminder that I've been CDing for about 71 years. (Unfortunately I can't be more precise than that, because I didn't have the foresight to memorialize the exact date on which I first decided to slip on my mother's nylons. I certainly didn't expect it to lead to a lifelong activity.)
Needless to say, a lot has changed over that period. Other than the evolution (not all good) of women's fashions, to me the single biggest change to the life of a CDer has been the emergence of the Internet. I recall as a teen searching through library books---mostly encyclopedias and psychology books---to try to get an understanding of why I was doing what I was doing, mostly to no avail. A bit later, I began to run across magazines, like Penthouse Letters, that published phony letters about CDing adventures. They were titillating but not very instructive.
Shopping was almost totally limited to brick-and-mortar stores. I recall as a college student going to the nearest upscale department store to "buy a gift for my girlfriend" of Hanes nylons, and telling the helpful sales lady that "I didn't know her size" (I knew I wanted 11L), but that she was "very tall". She put them in a beautiful gift box for me.
Today we have access to more information and discussion forums (this being the premiere example) than I could wish for, and on-line shopping has given me the opportunity to buy anything I could dream of. If only that had been true 70 years ago...
I have too many memories to recount, but the one that sticks with me most is the joy of finally embracing my loving-but-mostly-DADT wife with both of us wearing silky night gowns.
My journey has had its ups and downs, but I'm grateful to have taken it. Unlike my body, it never gets old.
