My Journey: Truck Driving part two

After coming out as transgender, I started driving with my dad. This was so I could take over hauling liquid helium containers for him. My parents suggested that I seek out a therapist to help me really figure out my dysphoria. It took a few months to find a therapist that dealt with the LGBTQ+ community. While seeing my therapist, I was not always dressing because I was driving with my dad. However, I would dress when I went to my therapist's office. I saw my therapist twice a month for the first six months. At the six-month mark, they thought I would be ready to start taking hormone replacements. I found an OB/GYN Endocrinologist who specialized in transgender hormone replacement therapy. I started my medical transition on November 2nd. My dad had turned the truck over to me right before this, so I was driving through the holidays. My parents went to see my brother in North Carolina and stayed there till the first of the year. I took this opportunity to dress fully all the time. After November and December, I was very comfortable in my girl clothes. Before my parents came home from the holidays, I told my mom that I had been dressing full-time. That I could not go back to wearing boy clothes. She told me she would have to think about this for a while. Well, she called a couple of days later and told me she could not have me dressing in her house. I said, "That is fine; I will have my own place and be moved out before you get home." I was out that weekend. I found a cute two-bedroom apartment across town.

In April, I decided to have my name legally changed. My first step in this process was to let my company know what I was planning to do. They were excited for me and asked me to let them know if there was anything they could do to help in the process. At that time, I was letting them know what I was doing and that I would let them know when I got my name changed. Then, they could send out an email to all that would be affected by my name change. I finally was able to start the process of changing my name in April. I had to put an ad in the local newspaper once a week for four weeks. Then, I had to wait another four weeks to see if anyone disputed my name change. When I called the courthouse to see if the wait was over, they said yes, they were waiting on the judge to sign the decree. I was ecstatic that the wait was finally over so I could start going by my chosen name.