[Allyson]

I, too, if given the choice, would have bypassed the pain.  But my son, whom we adopted from a third world country, asked me recently why it was that so many foreign born people were so successful, despite the advantages that the native born, native English speakers have.  I told him that because he came from a different perspective, he could see things that others could not, that he saw opportunity where others simply saw normal, and failed to appreciate it.  I think perhaps being trans gives us this same outside perspective advantage on being female, albeit at a great cost.  I have noticed that so many women have all that I ever really wanted, yet they count it as nothing, as normal, of little or no value.  Thanks for sharing "Cherish".  While I do not agree with all of it, there is much food for thought there.