Sigh of relief

So I’m no longer hiding anywhere. All relevant family members on both sides have been told that my oldest is transgender. My parents have known the longest and are supportive. My sister knows but hasn’t discussed it and I assume that she’s unsupportive, but I have little contact with her anyway.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were both the big variables. My MIL is extremely conservative and prone to being…how to put it nicely?…unpredictable. My SIL is a pastor’s wife and I also didn’t know how she’d react either. But surprisingly, they both said they figured it already and the name change would be the hardest adjustment. My MIL even said that she knew way back when we lived in Michigan. Both reiterated that nothing changed the fact of their love for my kid.

And I also posted to FB, since I still have a lot of close friendships on there. I received an overwhelming amount of support there, too, including from some unexpected people.

All in all, I just feel so much relief. I hate hiding and I hate keeping secrets. Even my husband’s employer is top secret and sometimes that drives me crazy. I would not do well in some high-level security job.

I’m proud of how things have been going with my oldest. She made it to the third interview with an IT company that would get her in with a damn good salary considering her lack of experience in the field.

And four years after she was supposed to have graduated high school, she’s finally planning to go back to college. She wants to become either an endocrinologist or a pharmacist, both of which are strengths for her and for which she’d be really well-suited.

All things tend to work out in the end. Now I just have to apply that principle to my husband’s cancer and I’ll have it made.