How wonderful life can be if only we have the courage to play the hand we're dealt in a way that is beneficial to everyone around us as well as being self fulfilling. Like so many other CDs it took me along time to fully learn this lesson. But I believe that I have finally learned, and I can say without any reservation that I like being me. And yes, that includes the part of me that is a crossdresser. Being Joan's husband, the father of two fine men, father in law of two wonderful women and the grandfather of six wonderful boys are my greatest blessings, and for me crossdressing is an added blessing that doesn't take away from or get in the way of my other roles. It is a matter of setting priorities and maintaining balance.
Over the course of my adult life, the frequency with which I have dressed, after I became comfortable with myself, has depended on demands from competing priorities. Now that I am retired, I have frequent opportunities to don my Lucy clothes. It is not that my priorities have changed because family has always come first. The major change, of course, is that I no longer have much of my time taken up by work-related activities that would require me to be in male attire. In fact, I did not cross dress at all for several years when we were caring for my father-in-law after he developed Alzheimer's disease.
Few people fit the stereotype for their sex, but many of us who are CDs do a good job of keeping up the façade of the stereotypical male so that we can go about our lives unmolested by other people's prejudices. The necessity of maintaining this façade is a factor that makes it difficult for us to break out of the mold. As a result, it often takes us a long time get up the courage to discretely pursue our interest in crossdressing or anything else that is stereotypically atypical, and this was certainly the case for me.
I first went out crossdressed 27 years ago, and I have been going out since, except for the few years when we were caring for my father in law. Being blessed with a wonderful wife who has always been willing to help me resolve any problem is a tremendous advantage. Joan always goes with me because that is the way we prefer doing most things. We always consider what we are going to do ahead of time and try to anticipate and avoid potential problems. We have had many fun times going places together as two ladies. We have attended concerts, gone on ocean cruises, traveled by airplane and even attended a wedding. We frequently go to lunch, take power walks at a local mall and go shopping. Because we always plan ahead and participate in activities at places and times where we never draw unnecessary and unwanted attention to ourselves, we have rarely had any problems, and we have never had any serious repercussions.
This newsletter is a labor of love for of our contributing editrixes.
Please join the staff by submitting your own insights into the world of cross-dressing.
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Rachel Boyd, or R.R. Boyd, P.O. Box 2252, Ashburn, VA 20146-9152.
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Updated: 05/08/04
