Official announcement: Spread the news to all corners of the earth!

[Riverwind (imported)]

I am so happy for you both,

River

[butterflyjack (imported)]

Wow..Wonderful..Oneof my favorite people...I wish her and her hubby a wonderful life..smooches Jackie

[fhunter]

Wow!

Best wishes and congratulations from this part of the world!

[jcat (imported)]

Congratulations! I wish you both all the very best and lots of laughter!

[gandalf (imported)]

Congratulations.

[Danya (imported)]

First of all, I am most grateful to all of you for the good wishes and wonderful notes. I will print this entire thread and save it with our wedding mementos.

Tal, many, many thanks for your post which blew me away. I am honored, and humbled, by what you wrote. Both of us were excited you and Gemm were able to join in our celebration. The day turned out to be far more than I had imagined it could be.

I will write more soon, when I'm feeling better. The day we returned from our Chicago honeymoon, I was coming down with a bug and fever I'm still fighting.

[Mac (imported)]

Danya, you have progressed a long way in your life. Best of everything to you.

[Danya (imported)]

Thanks, Mac.

Just a quick update, because I'm still not well. New this evening: I also have indications of an asthma attack beginning. I will see me doctor tomorrow.

Someone on the Archive recently told me something I already knew, but it was still very good to be reminded. That is, I am loved by a number of people here. The thing is, there are people here who truly are part of my chosen family and I am very blessed by this.

One of the most difficult emotions I worked through in the months leading up to the wedding was the feeling of 'loss' of my biological family. Though they are still alive, they do not accept me. I reached out to them, again, early this year and got no response. Over several weeks in August, I coped with renewed feelings of loss, knowing they would not be at the wedding.

'D' and I watched the movie "As It Is in Heaven" this evening. While a church, and its uptight judgmental pastor, have a place in the film the movie is much more. The main character, a renowned conductor bullied as a child for being different, at last finds his real place in life by...well, I won't say more. It's a fabulous movie, in Swedish with English subtitles (available on Netflix).

I was sobbing during the last few minutes of the movie. Why? Because in some ways, the main character's childhood reminded me of my own. Mostly, though, because he at last finds himself. Truly, this is critical part of living and one that I put off for many years. That's OK. I'm thrilled to have arrived at this place now. And to have the love and support of the very fine man I married, in addition to that of my chosen family right here.

[janekane (imported)]

My wife's recovery from her November, 2012 pelvic and left hip reconstruction surgery is progressing well, but slowly, and not without some at-times formidable difficulties. For the past couple months, I have been dealing with sometime severe stress and have been working at relaxation response techniques to keep my blood pressure above the congestive heart failure realm and below the fatal stroke realm. And I am alive and am glad to be alive to say to Danya and spouse (is that a proper word? I hope it is.) that I truly rejoice at the news, and I hope for the two of you the very best future that can ever be possible.

While I despise stigma, having been subjected to severe forms of it for being autistic and for being transgendered, I have to love prejudiced people because I know and understand that prejudice is almost always the acting out of unresolved childhood pain of one form or another.

Back when the Wisconsin Legislature had a joint House-Senate hearing about the proposed Constitutional Amendment that, in my view, makes my wife's and my marriage (which happened in Illinois in 1975) effectively unconstitutional in Wisconsin, I went to that hearing and gave testimony about my transgender and marriage situation, and how the proposed amendment would, if valid, deny to my wife and to me the valid right to be married. About half of the representatives and senators paid close attention to what I said, about half were laughing as I spoke, as though they were laughing at me.

I found being laughed at by elected officials to be abusive.

Danya, I truly do rejoice for you (plural).

I am really glad to have met you at the last MoM I have been able to attend.

[Danya (imported)]

janekane,

Thank you for your very kind words and good wishes! I wish both you and your wife continued improvement in your health. Part of my pain management technique 'tool kit' is relaxation methods, including mindfulness - living in the moment.

Being laughed at simply for being yourself is heartbreaking and can leave painful scars whatever your age. I was happy to meet you at a past MoM, and found you gentle and perceptive.

All,

My wedding to 'D' was a transcendent experience and one of the best days of my life! I'm thrilled that Tal and Gemm were able to share this special time with us. I was so happy, during a Bach fugue before the ceremony, I was dancing in the aisle.

Thanks again to everyone for the warm wishes.