Crossdressers-Haven.com

hi, please excuse my reluctance to introduce myself earlier....been busy building up the courage to post here. lol

i'm 57, married with two kids, retired now, been at this since i was seven.

as i've matured my need to express myself as female has grown. not sure if that's a good thing but it is what it is.

i'm very fearful of being "found out" but i can't reconcile that with my desire to be all of me. don't know if any of this makes sense but it's the best i can do right now.

i have an extensive wardrobe and manage to make myself quite presentable but lack opportunity more than anything else.

i joined thinking i might not feel so alone and to knock down the drumbeat in my head that my needs are wrong headed. i suppose i'm looking for support and acceptance from others as much as i am from myself.

after these many years and with the advent of the internet and especially digital photography i find myself less isolated and able to find expression i can record for posterity - i'm more in touch than i ever was....but still isolated none the less.

perhaps my frustration level will decrease with my joining - i hope so.

cheers!
emily

p.s. i hope i posted this correctly and in the right place, if not i hope a moderator will guide this post to the new member forum!

Hi and Welcome Emily to our little oasis. It looks to me that this is the right place for this kind of post.

One thing many of us have found is that our desires for this grow stronger as we get older (mid-life crisis?). Join in the discussion and know that you are not alone.

Connie

Hi Emily,
You could not have found a nicer group to be yourself with.I have felt most of what you are feeling now.You are not alone.

Hello Emily,

a warm welcome, I hope this forum helps

Welcome, Emily (love the name, btw).

I've only recently joined, myself. I think you will find acceptance here, and a genuine sensitivity. We are each very different in how we approach our appreciation of things feminine, and (so far, at least) I've detected no general orthodoxy on things like coming out to family.

So, do tell us a little more about yourself so we can get to know you better.

Welcome Emily

I think that you will feel very comfortable here, especially as you get to know everyone.

Fran

Hi, Emily, and welcome to the Forum!!

- SL

Hi Emily--
I think you can find things that will help you on this forum. The final choices about what to do are yours, but there can be a lot of help and support along the way.

I didn't have to deal with crossdressing as an issue in my adult life, but there were other ways in which I wasn't being true to myself during those years. I think CDing came along as a kind of extreme way of forcing me to acknowledge those other hidden parts. I could ignore all the other signals to express myself, but the need for a femme self was not something I could just set aside. Welcome to the forum.

You mention that you feel that your style is quite presentable, but there's nowhere to present it right now. That is a big frustration; we are all artists, to some degree, and we want to show our creations to the world. That's a very natural impulse, and it runs right into the "forbidden" aspect of crossdressing. The task is to find a way to make it less forbidden, in some way. Maybe that's going to a local support group, and only dressing once you get there.

Hi Emily, aboard.

Hi Emily and welcome to our group.

Leeza

Hi Emily
Welcome to this wonderful forum - 57 and retired already
Kay (54 and still a wage slave )

Hi Emily and welcome I have not been here a long time but the time spent looking at all this has made me feel at home and much calmer. I have also be doing this since for a long time seems like everyone here has so have a great time with it and please relax and have fun.. Diane B

Hi Emily, it's nice to met you, & I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here.

Hi Emily

Welcome...come join us in the chat room. We talk about everything and give eachother support, advice and anything else. Welcome

Lori

Hello Emily and welcome to the group. We are a caring and supportive group. Please become an active participant here as well as our weekly chat sessions.
Also, retirement is great.
Stephanie H