Having Fun as Your Spouse Transitions

If you have children, you know how delightful it is to watch them discover new things each day. If you have a spouse going through transition, you'll find much the same thing happens. Not long after Angela began hormones, she was out grocery shopping. When she got home, she was excited to tell me that "A man held the door open for me!" A few days later, at a visit to Home Depot, she reported, "Two guys helped me unload all my stuff into my trunk." Another shopping trip resulted in, "You'll never guess what happened! Someone whistled at me!" She was enthralled with each occurance. I shared in her joy.

Then there was the day she called me at work to say, "You'll have to come home and help me. I can't seem to stop crying!" She had watched a tear-jerker movie on Lifetime.

Yes, I went home. I did the required "There-theres," and the "It'll be all-rights." I did them for about an hour, while she continued to be teary-eyed and weepy. After that, I told her, "I'm afraid you're on your own on this one. You'll stop crying eventually." I had to return to work, and sure enough, by the time I returned home, she was over her crying-jag. We've laughed over that episode many times.

The biggest laugh came when she returned from an evening meeting. She said, "Did you know that women talk in the bathroom?" I couldn't stop laughing! Of course women talk in the bathroom. I didn't know that men didn't, but evidently, that's the case. It took her awhile, but she was soon able to carry on a complete conversation in the ladies room.

Now she accepts these little peccadilloes as natural. But they certainly were eye openers when she first began her transition.