Its long but important to all of us
Jan. 4th, 2008 06:49 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
bchgrl315.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
trans I was lucky enough to be able to spend a couple days with Keri, ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nc_cinegirl, and I really had such a great time. I have always had people that I talk to on here or wherever, but before this I had never met another trans person. When I first started out I had some people online that I talked to and asked millions of questions to, and I knew that it can be almost impossible to find the strength and resolve to transition without a support system. I always told myself that I wouldn't forget how important it is for the more experienced among us to help those who are still new and scared, but I had no idea that we can have such a big impact on someone else's life.
It seemed like everyday that I spent in the frozen tundra of North Carolina with Keri, she was doing something that she had never had the confidence to do before. The little things that can be so big and impossible like going out to eat in your own town, or going to the same grocery store that you used to go to as a guy, I was there when she did it for the first time. And even before I came up when we had just been talking on the phone, she found the confidence to come out to her boss and tell him that she had her named changed a couple months before. That is such a huge step! And the couple days I was lucky enough to be able to spend my time with her she kept telling me that alot of this new confidence had come from my support.
It just blows my mind that something as simple as having someone who has been through transition to talk to can make such a difference. For a lot of us our families are not comfortable with us during our hardest times but then they come to accept us later and we forget how hard the times were when we felt completely alone.
I don't ever want to forget this and I hope I will always be able to be a friend to anyone who needs it, because it really can make a difference. Remember this nomatter who you are, if your the new girl looking for advice and friends wherever you can find them, remember you needed people to be there for you and give back when you are able to and if you are someone who is giving back to the community, remember that it really does make a difference.
Erica
nc_cinegirl, and I really had such a great time. I have always had people that I talk to on here or wherever, but before this I had never met another trans person. When I first started out I had some people online that I talked to and asked millions of questions to, and I knew that it can be almost impossible to find the strength and resolve to transition without a support system. I always told myself that I wouldn't forget how important it is for the more experienced among us to help those who are still new and scared, but I had no idea that we can have such a big impact on someone else's life. It seemed like everyday that I spent in the frozen tundra of North Carolina with Keri, she was doing something that she had never had the confidence to do before. The little things that can be so big and impossible like going out to eat in your own town, or going to the same grocery store that you used to go to as a guy, I was there when she did it for the first time. And even before I came up when we had just been talking on the phone, she found the confidence to come out to her boss and tell him that she had her named changed a couple months before. That is such a huge step! And the couple days I was lucky enough to be able to spend my time with her she kept telling me that alot of this new confidence had come from my support.
It just blows my mind that something as simple as having someone who has been through transition to talk to can make such a difference. For a lot of us our families are not comfortable with us during our hardest times but then they come to accept us later and we forget how hard the times were when we felt completely alone.
I don't ever want to forget this and I hope I will always be able to be a friend to anyone who needs it, because it really can make a difference. Remember this nomatter who you are, if your the new girl looking for advice and friends wherever you can find them, remember you needed people to be there for you and give back when you are able to and if you are someone who is giving back to the community, remember that it really does make a difference.
Erica