“Now It’s Time To Tell My Granddaughter” Trans Woman Finds Love & Support After Coming Out to Family [Video]

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Christynne knew she was a woman from a very young age, but for most of her life was unable to transition. For decades, she lived a different life – graduating school, moving around from job to job, serving in the military, even becoming a parent–and grandparent! The life she was living all changed one morning in 2016 when she had a vivid dream in which she saw her true self staring back at her in the mirror. Realizing the time to transition was now, she used a routine appointment with her physician that very same day to kick off her gender journey. Moving at “transwarp speed”, Christynne began the transition process, which included the final frontier – coming out to her family. Fortunately, she was welcomed with love and open arms, including her adorably inquisitive 8-year-old granddaughter who since then “walked with me in Pride and she’s been my biggest Valkyrie.”

Transcript provided by YouTube:

0:05
I’m Christynne Lili Wrene Wood, 66 years old.
0:10
I’m originally from Springfield, Ohio.
0:12
I’m one of those who knew from a very early age, four years of age actually, that I was
0:19
indeed female.
0:20
Even at four years of age, because I started kindergarten early, my kindergarten teacher
0:25
knew.
0:26
She actually said to me after two weeks of kindergarten, “Chris, go lay down with the
0:31
other girls.”
0:32
When seventh grade began in junior high, that was pretty rocky.
0:38
So by the first week of eighth grade, all my time was being spent that I could in the
0:43
school library.
0:44
And something absolutely phenomenal happened.
0:47
I was walking down one of the aisles and a book just about hit me in the head, and the
0:52
book was the Kristin Jorgenson story.
0:56
She was a military GI who, after the army, realized what the true calling of her soul
1:00
was, went to Sweden and got gender reassignment surgery.
1:05
I pulled it out, read it, and so helped me Heaven, kept it out for the full eighth grade
1:12
year.
1:13
It explained to me that those three cruel birth defects that I was born with between
1:20
my legs were not permanent.
1:24
There was a medical and surgical solution to it.
1:27
We’ve gotten from junior high, we’ve gotten through high school.
1:31
I realized that I’m not a child born into wealth or privilege.
1:35
What do I need?
1:36
I need a job.
1:37
So I went in the US Navy, got married, had a beautiful daughter who’s one of my biggest
1:42
Valkyries.
1:43
Now it’s 1989.
1:44
I’ve got a civil service job with the county of San Diego.
1:49
I’m working in a female rich environment where 80% of my coworkers are female.
1:55
And oh boy, do I feel comfortable with that.
1:57
So now it’s 2016.
2:02
I get up to go to the restroom, turn on the lights, and there’s Christynne looking out
2:08
of the mirror at Christopher, and I’m literally shot going, “Well that’s weird.
2:13
You’re usually just in my dreams.”
2:15
And I put my hand up to the mirror and she touches my hand.
2:19
There’s an electrical shock that throws me back against the wall.
2:23
And I sit up in bed going, Oh my God.
2:25
That was a vivid dream.
2:27
And I hear a voice saying, “That wasn’t a dream.”
2:30
And Christynne’s sitting on the edge of the bed saying, “You have to do this today.
2:35
Now wake up.”
2:36
And at that time, the alarm goes off.
2:39
And I really sit up this time going, “Oh my God.”
2:43
What perfect timing.
2:45
That’s the day I had my quarterly doctor’s appointment with my primary care physician,
2:50
Dr. Stacy Coleman with Sharp Rees-Stealy.
2:53
She had just complimented me during this appointment for a over 140 pound weight loss.
3:00
And I very timidly kept going, “Thank you, thank you.”
3:03
And then she just looks at me with that smile that only she has, and she says, “And…?”.
3:11
And I blurted it out right then and there.
3:13
I said, “Dr. Stacy, I’m transgender female.
3:15
I’ve got to start my transition right now.”
3:18
And I started crying.
3:19
And she hugged me, hugged me, and said, “Here’s what we need to do to make this happen.”
3:25
She said, “This is step one.
3:27
You will get this done, which is your psychological evaluation.
3:33
Once that’s done and in our hands, you are going to proceed on to every other thing you
3:38
need to do.”
3:40
Sharps issued me a social worker for the change.
3:45
And to quote Star Trek, things didn’t move at warp speed.
3:48
They moved at transwarp speed.
3:50
Told my daughter, cousin and niece one night and finally admitted it I’m transgender female.
3:57
I will initiate the change and it will be a medical change, not just a social one.
4:03
They looked at each other and laughed, and I said, “My God, are you laughing at me?”
4:06
She goes, “No, we love you.
4:09
We’re laughing at what the fuck took you so long to do what we’ve known for decades?”
4:13
Now it’s time to tell my granddaughter, who at 8 was way smarter than she needed to be
4:19
and you oughta see her now at 15.
4:21
And so I took her to a restaurant where we were waiting for breakfast sandwiches.
4:26
She looks at me and says, “Mom says you have something tell me.”
4:29
And I said, Well, you better tell her now.
4:31
And I said, “Look, honey, here’s what you need to know.
4:34
In just a few months, you’re not going to have a Grandpa Doc anymore.
4:38
You’re going to have a Nana Christynne.
4:40
We’re both going to be girls.”
4:42
And she goes, “Wait, wait.
4:45
Explain to me exactly what’s going to happen.”
4:47
And I said, “Well, okay, honey.
4:49
Next month, I should be getting together with an endocrinologist.
4:53
I’ll start hormones.
4:55
The hormones will begin to change the shape of my body and I’ll begin to a degree to
5:01
grow breasts.”
5:02
She goes, “Wait, wait a minute.
5:03
Will it change the sound of your voice?”
5:05
I said, “No, honey, it won’t.
5:06
I’ll have to deal with that with as much grace as I can.”
5:09
She goes, “All right, continue.”
5:11
I said, “And then, in perhaps a year or so, maybe a little longer, I’m going to
5:17
fly up to San Francisco, where one of the most gifted surgeons on the planet, Dr. Marci
5:22
Bowers, is going to perform surgery on me.
5:26
I’m going to have a vagina.
5:29
We’re both going to 100% be girls.”
5:32
And she looks at me and goes, “Cool.
5:34
Hey, can I have one of those muffins over there?”
5:36
And that was it.
5:38
For her, that was all there was to it.
5:41
And the highlight of this is two years later, she walked with me in Pride and she’s been
5:49
my biggest Valkyrie.
5:52
So that’s it.
5:53
I’ve been elated since.
5:55
I’ve never smiled so much in my life, never had this much optimism and joy in my life.
6:02
Don’t you ever give up your dreams, especially when you know it’s the right thing.
6:05
It’s not just a phase, honey.
6:08
It’s the truth of your heart and soul, and I’m begging you, please follow it.

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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