August 30, 2010.
My partner was not feeling very well this morning. Allergies have kept her sneezing and stuffy. I love her and continue to develop stronger feelings for her daily. I do worry about our future but I will not let those worries dictate my present happiness.
What are my worries? There is a considerable age difference, she is 27 and I am 51. She is pre-operative trans-woman who has about 5 years earlier in her journey then am I. She is more butch and I like that. As she transitions and makes changes I am uncertain how I feel about that. How will our fluid sexuality continue to work? How will our life goals work together? How will her desire for children integrate with my own. How will my aging affect our relationship? These are just some of my concerns.
There was a Trans Youth Support Network (TYSN) meeting tonight to discuss the transition of Ryan Li Dahlstrom leaving the position of Executive Director. I have already stated that I will be stepping down from the Advisory Board in the near future. I have been a part of that board since the founding of the organization, roughly 4 years ago. I have been an outsider from the beginning in that I am by far the oldest member, and not a social service provider. I am a resident of Mahtomedi, MN a exurban community north and east of Saint Paul, MN. The rest of the board and community members are all from urban communities of Minneapolis and suburban.
I volunteered to be on a transition team and/or serve as a Transitional Director. Considering my concerns for the direction of TYSN and my doubts about it's direction and have mixed feelings. I will continue this discussion about my concerns and hopes for TYSN and trans-youth advocacy in later posts.
