Childhood

My birth was a bit of a surprise to my parents, with my due date being a whole 4 weeks away. I was born mid – November, Scorpio for life! Weighing in at a healthy 6 lbs and 9 oz. I’m the oldest of my parents 3 total biological children.

At a startling 10 ½ months I was fully mobile, just in time for when my Irish twin brother, Micheal was about ready to pop. My poor mother… who tells me stories of how I would climb into cabinets digging for anything to play with (one of my favorites being q-tips). Between the ages of 2-6, I showed interest in organizing toys and art supplies along with the need to watch over my siblings (that part has never changed).

Throughout these earlier years, I would play dress up, organize VHS tapes by color or theme and enjoyed directing role-playing of all sorts. The top few being: house, fire breathing dragons, fairies or race cars. A very memorable childhood love of mine was an 8ft squared sandbox we had in the backyard. A place where I could construct my own world.

Overall growing up was not an easy adventure. With my parents divorcing when I was 6 years old our family, more specifically us kids, were pulled in many directions. Both my parents had to work 60-80 hour work weeks just to keep the 3 kids fed. It caused both of them to tend to leave us children to our own devices (typically 1 of 6 movies).

PRE-TEEN YEARS

I truly questioned myself during these few years more than ever. We moved homes and schools almost yearly. Not allowing me to hold onto friendships and ultimately made me give up on friends as a whole. Both my parents remarried bringing completely different household structures into the picture. Our squad of 3 almost doubled overnight by adding a stepbrother and shortly after a half-sister.

A few of us attempted to dabble in sports or a musical instrument but ultimately it wasn’t the main focus for any of us. The whirlwind had many highs in the form of vacations, proven by the hundreds of film developed pictures my darling mother insisted on taking. We visited my grandparents several times a year – who lived 12 hours north of us by car. My education was always the top priority for my parents and I. School was not simple for me, in fact, it required extra hard work just to stay caught up. My hard work always shined through. Almost yearly I received awards and special acknowledgments of my notable efforts. Somehow I managed to hold As & Bs throughout almost the entirety of K-12.

When I had friends they were mostly girls (especially during elementary) who loved to sit and chat instead of running around and getting dirty. Throughout these few years, I believed I had surrounded myself with good friends until a few years went by and my innocence no longer blinded me.

TEEN YEARS

When I was 14 I pushed to live primarily with my father. A time where I started to explore my sexual orientation and eventually my gender identity. After hearing my friends poke fun at the idea of me crossdressing for Halloween, I caved into the idea. Before I knew it I was desiring to dress in “female” clothing and a red/brown smokey eye almost daily.
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High school years were far from perfect – but whose high school experience isn’t? I identified as male while wearing a full face of make-up and ultimately no one questioned it. The only problem I ran into was the school bathrooms. A story I explain in much more detail here.

Mid-way through junior year I started working part-time at a local marketing agency dabbling in Executive Assistant work alongside the occasional social media and graphic design task. A place that watched as I started my transition (3 years after my first introduction to cross-dressing at just 17 years old). Working during those years allowed me to upgrade my wardrobe and support myself when the need to move out became essential. During this time I found a psychiatrist that worked primarily with individuals on the gender spectrum. After a few intimate sessions, she referred me to a local endocrinologist that helped place me on testosterone blockers and estrogen. I luckily had other transgender friends, a supportive boyfriend and majority of my families acceptance.

One of the first magical moments was talking to one of my heavily Mormon grandmas and hearing her show interest in my transition. She’d ask questions on where I saw things going and ended the conversation with telling me how she can see how much happier I am now. Not all my more conservative family members were so easily accepting, a few still referring to me as male. Within a year or two of transitioning, many of my family members had mentioned to my mother or me that they could see a notable positive change in my attitude and self-confidence. A great example being family photos. As a child, I would duck away from the cameras and when forced to stand in frame kept a closed mouth smile out of hatred of my appearance.

My mom would like to leave us with her final input on my transition: “As a parent of a transgender child, all I wish for is others to take the time to listen to their loved one(s) and strive to provide a non judgmental space where they can come to you with their experiences good or bad. Be that someone that they can talk to. As hard as it may be at first, try not to ask your questions as they most likely do not have all of the answers yet. Perfection is not expected as a parent, but be patient and love unconditionally like you always have. I proudly share Casey’s story by showing pictures reflecting how happy she is. Her smile now showcasing her teeth, confidence, and strength. I am proud to have Casey Blake as my beautiful transgender daughter and for the example she sets to the community.”

Since graduating High School, I’ve jumped into working full time with more hobbies than I can count. But this is truly just the beginning of my story. Who knows what more this world has in store for me.

Thank you for joining me in my journey and being a part of my history in the making! I wish you all so much love and happiness throughout your journeys.