I recently turned 22 on October 21st. The day before my mom and I went out for dinner. She got me a card and told me,
"I made sure it was the card that said son the most."
She somehow fooled me and slipped away to tell the waiter it was my birthday. I was completely surprised when he came with a piece of cake. My mom has always been accepting of my transition but this was the first birthday I felt like everything was genuine.
The next day I worked a 10 hour shift like I do every Friday then went out with a few friends to a party. I was surrounded by people I didn't know until 5 am when we all fell asleep.
Years prior to transitioning I would have never gone to large parties where I only knew one person, even if it was my birthday. I would rather stay inside and browse the internet by myself. This year was the first birthday where I was completely comfortable.
Around this time last year I was still binding and preparing for top surgery. Now I'm almost a year post op. The joy I get from never having to deal with a binder again leaves me speechless. I'm able to wear shirts that I never could because I was always worried somebody would notice the binder underneath. I am finally happy with the way my life is, comfortable with the way I look and extremely proud of my decisions throughout my female to male transition. This birthday felt like my first real birthday.
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