Hi EC! I'd love to tell you all that after 15 years of mental warfare against myself, my thought and inner demons, I managed to gather enough courage to tell my parents about my true self, somethin' that I wanted to do for so long time now! I'm a guy that has always been interested in female clothings ever since I was little. Always admire the swirling fabrics from skirts and dresses and imagined how wonderful it must be to actually wear one. I've been like this for my whole life but not 'til the age of 12 things started to get more serious as I started to make plans of livin' a double life and actually get away with it without tellin' my friends, my family or my relatives. It all went well in the beginnin' I thought. But when I became 20, I realized that I struggled with my thoughts alot of how to really make a livin'. Call the reality a slowpoke since it took years for it to catch me up, hahaxD Anyway, I started to accept myself as a trans around that age and I needed to re-organize my plans. I knew that I had do so somethin' different now. As the years went by, I managed to come out to one friend at a time. The first one was like a little sister to me and I came out via a text message after she entrusted me with a secret of her. I felt that I wanted to give somethin' back of the same value so I entrusted her with mine and suddenly I had someone to talk with about this which felt wonderful! Unused with bringin' up the subject though, I've always been the careful, shy and the sensitive kind of guy. After a couple of years, I was about to lose my job since they needed to decrease the number of staff. Last in, first out you know. It bothered me for such a long time knowin' that my days were countered there. One night when I was sittin' in my friend's car, we started to talk about dreams and about the universe and I suddenly felt that I needed to tell him. So I did, for the first time to actually say it to someone eye-to-eye and he's been an awesome support and great friend ever since! It continued like that from one friend to another and I couldn't have felt more lucky about my group of friends for they are simply the best to me!! A couple of weeks ago, I was spendin' my vacation in Bulgaria. Me and my friends traveled down there since one of our friends were gettin' married. One night after talkin' with my best friend of still be in hidin' toward my family, he said such great words that granted me courage to finally tell my little sister at least. Such a long WhatsApp message it was! But it was worth it The next mornin' waited a lovely and supportive message from my sister that she accept me for who I am and she think it's awesome. Once I came home from Bulgaria, happiness didn't lasted to long as I've longed to come home. That kind of information is very personal and I don't wish to tell that story since that involves a very special one that I like so much. Long story short: I thought that I would get the chance to see her more once I came home but that story turned out the opposite. This surprised me and me depressed. I wanted to cry my tears out but I just couldn't make them come. I sat in the shower and almost forced some tears out just to ease the pressure a little. I managed but it still hasn't been all the tears that I wished to shred. Durin' that moment while I was in the shower, I felt like that I needed to do somethin'. I've always imagined that when I'm gonna come out to my parents I would've write a hand-written letter to them explainin' how I feel and why. I kinda had that letter now: The text message that I sent to my little sister. I knew that I wouldn't be able to re-write that message to its extent as I did to my little sister so I realized that that's the letter that was never hand-written. Once I got out from the showers, I called for my parents attention since they're spendin' their vacation in Germany right now. I told them that I wanted to tell 'em somethin' really important and that it was indeed a copied message that I sent to my little sister. Copy, paste. Copy paste, all those messages came one by one. It didn't took long 'til my mum started to call me and we could actually talk about it. It felt so wonderful to receive my parents acceptance and support, that has been somethin' that has had me scared for such a long time! Indeed they are LGBTQ+ supporters (been to several pride festivals in Stockholm, London and New York City + that my cousin has come out as lesbian too, our family is far from bein' narrow sighted really) They've been askin' me what kind of skirts I like, my sister has been out scoutin' and suggestin' me a couple of dresses already and my parents wishes to give me some space in their wardrobe where I can store some dresses if I'd like to do so. "Damn, put in some of your skirts there too. You don't need to hide anymore<3" my mum said and it felt so great to hear those words! Not only do I wish to give my greatest thanks to my friends who's been there and supportin' me all this way^^ My journey still continues on of course, I feel like I still need to discover more of myself to truly find it! There is some lovely people here at Empty Closets that I wish to thank All you lovely people I've written with in forums, takin' part of your life experiences and those who have supported me. An extremely big thank you from the bottom of my heart to thses followin' EC Members: YuriBunny, I've always been so happy whenever I receive a message from you Always curious about what's goin' on with your life and all the chats about dresses and how to be cute^^ Another friend of mine learned me that you can love someone without havin' to go into a relationship and I wanna say that I love bein' your friend^^ Thanks for all your cute support, happiness and the strength you gave me! Jjanon, there hasn't been that much of chattin' quite recently but I will never forget our discussions of what kind of clothings we like best and share our hidin' stories from day to day and how we both manage to survive Thank you for sharin' your stories and givin' me strength! PrettyinPunk, I know it has been a long time ago when we talked but you caught my attention when it came to talk about skirts in the beginnin'^^ I didn't knew that many people when I was a new member but I remember your posts on your forums which caught my attention. I'm proud to be a member of the skirt club alongside with you^^ Thank you for givin' me your strength and happiness!^^ Quantumreality, my oh my. Where should I even start? Everytime I receive a message from you, I receive lots of words filled with straight honest stories and thoughts from your side and you never ceased to amaze me. Strong words that grants me not only strength but also a massive block of courage that really aids me in my everyday life. Too bad we don't live closer for I would've love to meet up in reality and have a pleasant conversation. You're like a true inspirational leader for me, like a teacher I never had that enlighten me with great knowledge. Thank you for your strength, courage and great support! Riz, my lovin' and awesome man! Not only did we became great friends here at EC but we became somethin' more. You are very special friend to me!<3 How I adored your awesome pictures of you and your happy spirit and positive thinkin' everytime we talked about dresses and skirts. I will never forget the time when I could talk about my dream prom dress that I've always wanted to have without havin' any doubts or even hestitatin' writin' those words! It was such a great steppin' stone in my life. And how you encouraged me to buy my very first skirt for myself, a long pleated silver metallic skirt as well You also introduced me the mori kei-fashion as well and made me curious about different kinds of Japanese styles too! And our love to plaid tartan skirts, oh yeah!!! All of our conversations<333 I couldn't be more happy to have you as my special friend and chat with you both here at EC and also via Messenger as well^^ I'm so lucky to have you, you've always been there for me with your support<3 I love you man and you know it! I'm always gonna be there for you, you're simply the best! Thank you for everythin'! You've given me happiness, strength, courage and managed to push me to do things that I haven't dared to do before! Thank you my dear and great friends and thank you Empty Closet and all EC:ers for makin' this possible to me^^ If not for any of you, I'd still be in my little shell/cocoon for so many more years.
