I’m Christynne Lili Wrene Wood, 66 years old. I’m originally from Springfield, Ohio. 

I’m one of those who knew from a very early age, four years of age actually, that I was indeed female. Even at four years of age, because I started kindergarten early, my kindergarten teacher knew. She actually said to me after two weeks of kindergarten, “Chris, go lay down with the other girls.”

When seventh grade began in junior high, that was pretty rocky. So by the first week of eighth grade, all my time was being spent that I could in the school library. And something absolutely phenomenal happened. I was walking down one of the aisles and a book just about hit me in the head, and the book was the Kristin Jorgenson story. She was a military GI who, after the army, realized what the true calling of her soul was, went to Sweden and got gender reassignment surgery.

I pulled it out, read it, and so helped me Heaven, kept it out for the full eighth grade year. It explained to me that those three cruel birth defects that I was born with between my legs were not permanent. There was a medical and surgical solution to it. 

We’ve gotten from junior high, we’ve gotten through high school. I realized that I’m not a child born into wealth or privilege. What do I need? I need a job. So I went in the US Navy, got married, had a beautiful daughter who’s one of my biggest Valkyries. Now it’s 1989. I’ve got a civil service job with the county of San Diego. I’m working in a female rich environment where 80% of my coworkers are female. And oh boy, do I feel comfortable with that.

So now it’s 2016. I get up to go to the restroom, turn on the lights, and there’s Christynne looking out of the mirror at Christopher, and I’m literally shot going, “Well that’s weird. You’re usually just in my dreams.” 

And I put my hand up to the mirror and she touches my hand. There’s an electrical shock that throws me back against the wall. And I sit up in bed going, Oh my God. That was a vivid dream. 

And I hear a voice saying, “That wasn’t a dream.” And Christynne’s sitting on the edge of the bed saying, “You have to do this today. Now wake up.” And at that time, the alarm goes off. And I really sit up this time going, “Oh my God.”

What perfect timing. That’s the day I had my quarterly doctor’s appointment with my primary care physician, Dr. Stacy Coleman with Sharp Rees-Stealy. She had just complimented me during this appointment for a over 140 pound weight loss. And I very timidly kept going, “Thank you, thank you.” 

And then she just looks at me with that smile that only she has, and she says, “And…?”. 

And I blurted it out right then and there. I said, “Dr. Stacy, I’m transgender female. I’ve got to start my transition right now.” And I started crying.

And she hugged me, hugged me, and said, “Here’s what we need to do to make this happen.” She said, “This is step one. You will get this done, which is your psychological evaluation. Once that’s done and in our hands, you are going to proceed on to every other thing you need to do.” Sharps issued me a social worker for the change. And to quote Star Trek, things didn’t move at warp speed. They moved at transwarp speed!

And to quote Star Trek, things didn't move at warp speed. They moved at transwarp speed!

Told my daughter, cousin and niece one night and finally admitted it I’m transgender female. I will initiate the change and it will be a medical change, not just a social one. They looked at each other and laughed, and I said, “My God, are you laughing at me?” 

She goes, “No, we love you. We’re laughing at what the fuck took you so long to do what we’ve known for decades?”

Now it’s time to tell my granddaughter, who at 8 was way smarter than she needed to be and you oughta see her now at 15. And so I took her to a restaurant where we were waiting for breakfast sandwiches. She looks at me and says, “Mom says you have something tell me.” 

And I said, Well, you better tell her now. And I said, “Look, honey, here’s what you need to know. In just a few months, you’re not going to have a Grandpa Doc anymore. You’re going to have a Nana Christynne. We’re both going to be girls.” 

And she goes, “Wait, wait. Explain to me exactly what’s going to happen.” 

And I said, “Well, okay, honey. Next month, I should be getting together with an endocrinologist. I’ll start hormones. The hormones will begin to change the shape of my body and I’ll begin to a degree to grow breasts.”

She goes, “Wait, wait a minute. Will it change the sound of your voice?”

I said, “No, honey, it won’t. I’ll have to deal with that with as much grace as I can.”

She goes, “All right, continue.”

I said, “And then, in perhaps a year or so, maybe a little longer, I’m going to fly up to San Francisco, where one of the most gifted surgeons on the planet, Dr. Marci Bowers, is going to perform surgery on me. I’m going to have a vagina. We’re both going to 100% be girls.” 

And she looks at me and goes, “Cool. Hey, can I have one of those muffins over there?”

And that was it. For her, that was all there was to it. And the highlight of this is two years later, she walked with me in Pride and she’s been my biggest Valkyrie. So that’s it. 

I’ve been elated since. I’ve never smiled so much in my life, never had this much optimism and joy in my life. Don’t you ever give up your dreams, especially when you know it’s the right thing. It’s not just a phase, honey. It’s the truth of your heart and soul, and I’m begging you, please follow it.