| LINDA AND JERI'S THOUGHTS ON PARENTING Page 2 |
| "Some Scientists claim that hydorgen, because it is plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe." - Frank Zappa |
| March 2001 Linda and Allison at Allison's 8th Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese |
| Letter from Jeri to the spouse of another couple in transition Spring 2001 (Note: personal information has been blocked out) |
Nothing could have shocked me more than the outpouring of love I experienced on fathers day of 2001. The kids
called it Mother-fathers day and said the best father to have is a female one. The gifts, attention, and homemade
projects brought tears to my eyes. I can't express the joy in mere words.
called it Mother-fathers day and said the best father to have is a female one. The gifts, attention, and homemade
projects brought tears to my eyes. I can't express the joy in mere words.
| Mother-fathers Day June 2001 |
| Allison draws, colors and cuts-out a picture of me. |
I worried about how we would be perceived by others and then one day it dawned on me ... I didn’t care. I saw strangers on the street who meant nothing to me, so why worry about what they thought? We have fun with it now. I love to stare back at people that are rude enough to stare in the first place. 99.9% of the people where we live don’t even notice. (Seattle is great for transsexuals as there are so many).
I will admit that it is uncomfortable at first and I had the same concerns but everything improved as time went on. My parents were the most accepting people I have ever known. My mother says that she likes Linda a lot better then, “What was his name?� ;-)
I don’t perceive myself or our relationship as lesbian and quite frankly I don’t care how other people view it. The lesbian friends we have say that we confuse them because we are fem girl/fem girl and not fem girl/butch girl. We have a ball!
Linda started full time almost as soon as she told me, she couldn’t wait 1-2 years. Once you get through it the rest is all down hill. Coming out, going out and telling people is the roughest part. I’m glad we went through it and got it behind us so quickly. I would hate the thought of it dragging on for years. Everyone seeing your spouse dressed as a female or wearing a dress is uncomfortable but it passes. We’ve had absolutely no problem whatsoever with school or any of our kid’s (2 girls and a boy) friends. Alex (8) and Allison (7) pretty much grew up with Linda being Linda and they could care less. Some of the things they do and the nonchalant way they do it is cute. Linda went to pick Alex up from school one day and a schoolmate asked Alex if that was his mother. Alex said, “No, that’s my Dad. He used to be a boy but now he’s a girl�. The kid said, “Oh�, and that was it. None of my kids have ever been teased about that. I’ll give you my home phone number if you would like Jessica to talk to XXXX. XXXXXXXXXX. She doesn’t mind a bit and has done it in the past. She is a really good kid (except for her hormones! ;-D) and has a great head on her shoulders (I’m not too proud of her, am I?). Her email address is: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX but I don’t know how often she checks it.
Linda did the crossdressing bit also and quickly realized that that is not who she is. I know my “devil-may-care� attitude is probably not much comfort right now. It REALLY does improve a lot once “it� is all over with and everything is out in the open with everyone. That part was an enormous relief for me. Linda transitioned on a police department in Wyoming and knew EVERYONE in town (17 years). We moved to Seattle, not knowing of the transsexual culture here. (My father had died and when we came up for the funeral, we fell in love with the area and decided that we wanted to live here.) Anyway, she continued working as a cop until she took a medical retirement for her back problems. Things couldn’t be better for us. We absolutely LOVE living where we do and have more friends now then we ever have.
Let me know what else I can share with you and I will. Nothing bothers us and we love to help. We only had each other in Wyoming and no information so it was really tough. I’ll quit rambling and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Jeri A. Simpson
I will admit that it is uncomfortable at first and I had the same concerns but everything improved as time went on. My parents were the most accepting people I have ever known. My mother says that she likes Linda a lot better then, “What was his name?� ;-)
I don’t perceive myself or our relationship as lesbian and quite frankly I don’t care how other people view it. The lesbian friends we have say that we confuse them because we are fem girl/fem girl and not fem girl/butch girl. We have a ball!
Linda started full time almost as soon as she told me, she couldn’t wait 1-2 years. Once you get through it the rest is all down hill. Coming out, going out and telling people is the roughest part. I’m glad we went through it and got it behind us so quickly. I would hate the thought of it dragging on for years. Everyone seeing your spouse dressed as a female or wearing a dress is uncomfortable but it passes. We’ve had absolutely no problem whatsoever with school or any of our kid’s (2 girls and a boy) friends. Alex (8) and Allison (7) pretty much grew up with Linda being Linda and they could care less. Some of the things they do and the nonchalant way they do it is cute. Linda went to pick Alex up from school one day and a schoolmate asked Alex if that was his mother. Alex said, “No, that’s my Dad. He used to be a boy but now he’s a girl�. The kid said, “Oh�, and that was it. None of my kids have ever been teased about that. I’ll give you my home phone number if you would like Jessica to talk to XXXX. XXXXXXXXXX. She doesn’t mind a bit and has done it in the past. She is a really good kid (except for her hormones! ;-D) and has a great head on her shoulders (I’m not too proud of her, am I?). Her email address is: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX but I don’t know how often she checks it.
Linda did the crossdressing bit also and quickly realized that that is not who she is. I know my “devil-may-care� attitude is probably not much comfort right now. It REALLY does improve a lot once “it� is all over with and everything is out in the open with everyone. That part was an enormous relief for me. Linda transitioned on a police department in Wyoming and knew EVERYONE in town (17 years). We moved to Seattle, not knowing of the transsexual culture here. (My father had died and when we came up for the funeral, we fell in love with the area and decided that we wanted to live here.) Anyway, she continued working as a cop until she took a medical retirement for her back problems. Things couldn’t be better for us. We absolutely LOVE living where we do and have more friends now then we ever have.
Let me know what else I can share with you and I will. Nothing bothers us and we love to help. We only had each other in Wyoming and no information so it was really tough. I’ll quit rambling and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Jeri A. Simpson