Introductions, Hello Everyone

[Chiefsrule58]

Hello Everyone,

               My name is Jamie I am a 42-year-old and I identify as a woman. I am currently only out to my wife, children, and a few select people. I have one sibling an older sister.  I was born in Johnson Kansas on a farm, my parents moved to an exceedingly small town on the border of Oklahoma and Texas (Texhoma on highway 54) when I was 4 (Texas side). Later we moved to Amarillo TX in 1989. I knew that I was different by the time I was five mainly because my parents and other adults were always on me to change my behaviors. My dad completely disapproved not allowing me to choose my own clothes, get my ears pierced or grow my hair out. My mother attempting to protect me did all she could to get me to conform. I was bullied a lot as a lot of kids are for being different.  My mother had taken me to local doctor when I was little but was told that I had emotional problems. After we moved to Amarillo and puberty came, I experienced chronic illness and it seemed I was always at the doctor and being tested for something but not getting any results. In high school everyone thought that I was gay primarily because how I acted and the fact that I never dated.

 

Eventually it all came to a head one day when I had been given a severe beating by a group of boys in a small room exiting the band hall at school during my junior year. I was 17 at the time and decided to do whatever I had to do to get out of Amarillo. So, I talked my Mom and Dad into letting me join the Navy since as a minor I needed their permission, I never saw my father so proud.  I worked with the recruiter, so I was able to live for boot camp 3 days after I graduated in June of 1996.  I spent the next 24 years in the Navy, I met my wife Tabby in December of 1999 and we got married in 2002. 

 

I came out to my wife in 2004. She has always been supportive of me, although she had a difficult time understanding in the beginning not to mention the stress of being a Navy spouse (4 deployments from 2006-2009).  We ended up separated for almost 18 months and were at the point of divorce just waiting for it to finalized, We continued to talk and decided that even though we were both fine on our own we were better together and things suddenly turned around and we have been together ever since. I share this because I want others to know that there is always hope.  We have four children three boys and a girl.  Our two youngest both boys have autism.  In 2015 I started having real difficulty functioning in daily life, so my wife through lots of patience and encouragement convinced me to see a gender therapist, she even set up the first appointment. After doing many appointments sometimes even including my oldest son to help him better understand nine months later, I started HRT.  I am extremely grateful for the support of my wife and being blessed to find both a therapist and a doctor with a great deal of experience. 

 

Even though I was still in the closet beyond my home, when the Secretary of Defense announced that you could no longer be separated for being transgender it brought me a since of relieve and freedom to no longer have to worry about being separated. I was able to be more myself and decided to reenlist even though I had already reached my 20-year mark  It was always a struggle for me choosing between doing what I really loved to do and being myself so I made compromises were I could in order to make it work with the end goal to fully transition.  Prior to the ban being reinstated I attempted to get medical treatment towards  transition but it did not go well and it generated problems on top of problems for me ultimately ending with a couple of mental health crisis so I decided to wait to fully transition until I was out which was around two years at the time.

 

 So what brought me here now and what am I looking?  Now that I am officially retired from the Navy, I decided to move forward and transition to live my life fully.  While looking for additional information on transitioning after 40 I came across a recommendation for transgender pulse.  My first used a similar web site when she was coming to terms with things. Thanks for reading I know it’s been rather long; however, I think it’s important to know where someone has been in order to meet them where they are. I look forward to meeting new people, hopefully forming new friendships, sharing information, and both giving and receiving support.

 

Sincerely,

Jamie

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Susan R
Auto-correct error correction- As per Jamie

[Susan R]

@Chiefsrule58

Hello Jamie, Welcome to our forum. It’s always nice to have a veteran join the ranks here. We all appreciate the sacrifices you made to fulfill that duty. That was probably a very tough road given your circumstances. You’re still very young so you must be thrilled with the upcoming possibilities you have right now. I hope we can be of great help to you. There are plentiful resources and if you can’t find an answer just ask us and you soon have several people giving you some very good advice and support. Overall, it seems you’ve enjoyed a very full and adventurous life. Your story is unique but shares many similarities of many of our members here including myself. Thank you for reaching out and telling us a little about your life. I hope your journey is smooth and look forward to reading even more about you over the coming months.

 

Warmest Regards,

Susan R?

[Carolyn Marie]

Welcome to Trans Pulse, Jamie.  Like Susan said, thank you so much for your service.  I presume that your last rank was Chief, which is a great accomplishment.

 

Please ask any questions and let us know how we can help.  If you have a gender therapist a lot of things are probably settled, but our members can certainly help with the practical aspects of transition, and their experiences will help a lot.

 

HUGS

 

Carolyn Marie

[Confused1]

Hi Jamie,

 

Welcome to TransPulse. Thank you for your service. My immediate family and very close friends are all that know about me as well.

 

Hugs,

Mike

[Heather Shay]

@Chiefsrule58 - welcome - you will find incredible ladies here. I have found refuge and sanctuary as I transition. I'm 68 so you are a young'n to me and I'm happy to welcome you here.

[Jani]

Welcome aboard Jamie.  I'm happy you took that advice and looked us up.  You'll find like minded folks here to speak with.  I'm former Navy, although well before your time.  Please join in the conversation.

 

Cheers, Jani

[Ivy]

Welcome Jamie.