“Female”.  Just a word on a document, but in our case the final vital step in E’s long, arduous struggle to be officially, legally recognized for who she has always been.

It seemed so anticlimactic, just filling out one final form in a health dept. office, to finally obtain the accurate birth certificate with her true gender marker.  Something most of us take for granted.  It took eight years of expensive medical procedures, discrimination, harassment (including by doctors), and perseverance, not to mention dealing with backward bureaucracy, to get to today.  Not an ordeal anyone would take on lightly or recommend.  It’s a major milestone which took much of a lifetime and a lot of pain and loss to achieve.

So where else would we go to commemorate this moment?  HQ, of course.  With a Yellow Springs Magical Moments Winter Warmer spiced brew (9.5!).