Today, I got a message from my wife asking me if I would like to meet up with her for lunch. I hadn’t seen her workplace, so I figured, sure! I decided to step up and embrace my transgender self for this trip.

Right after I accepted, I headed to the bathroom and shaved. (Note to self: a fast shave hurts.) Then I wiped down my face with my favorite toner, waited for it to dry, then put on my moisturizer.

From that, there was underwear, blouse and skirt, then shoes. The shirt is white with a kind of snaky pattern on it; the skirt was dark blue and calf-length, and the shoes were flats. No stockings this time.

After the moisturizer dried, my primer went on followed by concealer and corrector to cover the darkness on my face. I didn’t manage to do up my eyeshadow, and was running a little later than I wanted to be, so I pinged for a car, then stepped out and locked the door.

It was at this point I realized that for the first time in Philadelphia I was walking out of here in girl-mode for the first time. I’d gone out with my bra and a casual blouse, but this was the big one: nice blouse that couldn’t be anything else, skirt, makeup. All of it.

One deep breath.

Then down the stairs.  The car pulled up, I got in. My deadname is on my Uber account (I really can’t change it until I get a formal name change), so I was asked for that, confirmed it, and off we went.

No one said anything. I didn’t get the slightest comment from anyone. Not from the driver, not from anyone on the street, not from building security, not from anyone in the building, not from the driver on the way back.  No mockery, no commentary, no rudeness (at least to my face).

I feel good about it. I felt alive. I felt like Jen.

It was a good day.