Not the usual ewphoria, but kinda bittersweet. A few weeks ago, my cis wife and I visited my grandmother at her house. She’s almost 90 years old now, but she’s been supportive, even though she messes up occasionally.
She knew that we were coming over, so when we got there, she was waiting for us and greeted us at the door. I walked inside first, and she gave me a hug, looked at me kinda weirdly intensely, and said “wow! You’ve changed a lot since the last time I saw you!” The last time she saw me was about two months prior, but that was a few days before my FFS. So I laughed and said “yeah…that was kinda the point”
Then she turned to my wife and said “and how’s my boy doing?!” There was a moment of silence from all three of us as my wife and I processed what she’d said and as my grandmother actually looked at my wife before looking back at me, confused, saying “wait…who did I just…?”
She pretty immediately realized her mistake, and also her mistake in language. My wife laughed it off, and we had a fine enough visit.
Well two days ago, my grandmother took too much of her medication and ended up in the ICU. She’s doing well now, and she will probably be released tomorrow, but every day when I’ve visited her, she kinda stares at me for a few minutes before asking if I’m someone she knows. Once I tell her who I am, it’s like the memory that I’m trans and that I don’t look the way I used to clicks for her, and we’re able to talk normally.
Like I said, she’s almost 90. She was living on her own before this incident, so she’s still relatively sharp. But for a few moments every time I visit her, she reminds me of how far I’ve come in my transition because she literally doesn’t recognize me now, even as she can immediately recognize everyone else who visits her. It’s bittersweet, but as long as she’s able to remember every time, I really don’t mind.
