Annie Dear Friend,
Firstly please accept my most sincere apologies for taking so much time to respond to your kind and very thoughtful post.
What you had to say was very thought provoking and I have read it more than once to ensure I fully understood it's very important message. I also re-read Clara's SO Acceptance thread in order to maximise that impact.
There is no doubt in my mind relationships can be very delicately balanced from time to time, mine is certainly no exception.
I do admit that my GD has challenged my DW more than she thought possible, mainly because this time around it has been substantially stronger and without clear boundaries. I am not certain where those boundaries are at this precise moment, I have reassured her that I have no desire to transition (although I must admit the thought has crossed my mind many times) as I believe that ship sailed long ago as I am too old now!
I would like to think that our friendship has only taken a small knock and it will recover very quickly, after all we do have many things in common and can sometimes even read each other's minds.....very scary
I do admit that the scale of my cross dressing and GD has changed, not for the better in my DW view. I tend to wear female under garments most days and even wear pastel nail varnishes virtually every day. Some members of the family are aware of this and are OK with it but my wife is still very nervous about it.
I have taken your advice and calmed things down on the CD'ing front together with a more relaxed dialogue hoping that our relationship will be restored.
I am delighted to learn of your connection with Liverpool, maybe I should send you an honorary 'Scouser Certificate'

On the other side, believe it or not my father was Canadian, I never knew him and have had no success in tracing him. It's a long story but only learnt this when I was 55 and my Mum would not divulge the information I so much needed. I have my original birth certificate which gives me some info and my original French Canadian name.
Isn't life complicated ?
I will close at this point and would be happy to tell you more via a PM. THANK YOU DEAR ANNIE. You are so kind to formulate your excellent post on my behalf.
Your dear friend
Heather XX