As the youngest of three children and the only son of an only son of an only son I started out in something of a hole. This wasn’t helped any by childhood asthma and a total lack of coordination. With handicaps like that it’s no wonder I never developed into the sort of rough and tumble sort of lad that every good blue collar father wanted. Not that I minded. You see, throughout my childhood I can honestly say that I always wanted to be a female simply because that was how I saw myself. I wasn’t a fairy or anything like that. It was my lanky stature and non-traditional preferences for reading, history and less manly pursuits that cost me dearly on the playground, not my hidden passions and dreams.

From an early age I found myself dealing with a conundrum, one I could not share with anyone. Physically I knew I was a male, a rather poor specimen of one but male nonetheless. And yet I was unable to identify with any of the traditional views and desires associated with being male. Growing up in the late 50’s and early '60s meant that I didn’t have access to a great deal of information concerning my dilemma. By the time puppetry hit I found I had but two choices, neither of which were very appealing. I could go to New York City and become part of the Stonewall crowd or I could go against my own nature and create a persona that would be acceptable to my family and the “Normal” world I had been raised in.

So I left home in 1967 when I was 15 and never really looked back. The less said about my life from 1967 to 1970 the better. How I survived those years despite my best efforts is something I attribute to a combination of Divine intervention and pure dumb Irish luck. That I was afforded the opportunity to start over again was due chiefly to the intervention of a Marine colonel who served as something of a mentor. With his help in 1970 I secured an ROTC scholarship and acceptance at his almamater.

After graduating in 1974 I embarked upon a military career that took me to all sorts of picturesque spots around the world, the sort most Americans have never heard of. Along the way I married a person who will always be the love of my life and my best friend. Between us we had three children, all of whom are adults now.

My military career came to something of an abrupt end in 1991 when I had something of an epithany during the Gulf War. Upon returning home I began the slow, arduous journey that eventually led to where I had always wanted go.

Today I live in Northern Virginia with a 54 pound lab who thinks he’s a lap dog and a feline who allows me to share the master bedroom bed with her. I live a quiet life, content that after many false starts I finally managed to get it right.