Or something like that.
Hello friends. No big speeches tonight, no soap box, no rousing battle cries, not even a specific opinion about anything: that leaves me very little to discuss I am afraid.
I wanted only to share that I am just eighteen days away from the single most significant event to date in my transition (get it... six times three? I knew you would). In sixteen days, I am getting on a plane with my partner and flying to Mexico. In eighteen days, I will undergo several surgical procedures, stopping just short of "the big one," that will affect a permanent shift from male to female. In about twenty five days, I will return to the United States (I hope) in an entirely new form... a bruised and battered form, no doubt; but a form that will be more closely me than any I have ever before embodied. The thought brings tears to my eyes (or is that the fan blowing in my face?).
This is the last house Kyle will ever live in. This is the last job Kyle will ever have. It is the last time I will ever look in the mirror and be reminded, even if only for a moment, that things are not completely right (well... we'll overlook that one, little thing). When I step onto that plane, it will be the last time Kyle will ever stand on U.S. soil.
When I finally get my college diploma (twenty years late... shut up), the name of that graduate - of that soon to be psychologist (or environmental activist, or art critic... the jury is still out) will be Katherine Lynn DeLong. The next time I buy a house - or rent a mobile home, I guess I cannot get too far ahead of myself - Katherine Lynn DeLong will sign the mortgage agreement. The next time I buy a car, Katherine Lynn DeLong will sign the loan papers. The next time I send a Christmas card, it will legally be signed by Katherine Lynn DeLong. Okay, that would be the first time I have sent a Christmas card, but you know what? This year, I just might.
Wow. 43.7 years. 43.7 years in the wrong body. In the U.S., the average prisoner serving a life sentence spends only 29 years in jail. I have more than served my time. I think I deserve a little happiness. I think we all deserve a little happiness, and maybe, just maybe a little peace as well.
I love you all,
Good night.
Kat Girl
