Self-protection

This is an interesting phase of my life where family events come up and you aren't always sure what to do. Everyone knows about your situation but you also need to feel comfortable which makes the mental gears work a little harder. 

You need to decide whether to attend at all knowing that hostile mindsets will likely be present while not wanting to cave into them by not presenting as you desire. 

For many years I was forced into a fragmented existence of dysphoria management and even braved approaching HR about a possible work transition but I thought about the career fallout, my children's ages at the time and decided not to despite getting the green light. 

Today I have no guard rails stopping me from anything which is both good and bad. It means you need to reflect carefully on the land mines in front of you in an era that is increasingly turning hostile towards transgender people. 

There is no easy. There is only life.