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There’s something you might not know about me (though I did mention it briefly in one of my earliest blog posts here). I won’t keep you in suspense: my ex-husband, the father of my child, is transgender.
When we got married he was called Daniel. 15 years later, he is now she, and her name is Savannah.
We’re not together anymore, though we still love and support each other. We have a child together (our lovely daughter). We still run a business together. We’re still a family and though we live in different apartments, they’re in the same building.
Some people wonder why our lives are still so entwined. My reason is because I married a person that I loved… and even though her gender transition made it difficult for us to stay together as a couple, I will always love her as a person. We’ve both had other partners since splitting up, but our mutual love and respect for each other endures.
So why am I telling you this? What does it have to do with abundance?
Accepting and loving people (including ourselves!) just the way that we are… practicing compassion, gratitude and respect… focusing on the positive things in every situation that can be carried forward… well, I believe that this is a path for ‘enriching’ all of life. I believe it’s a HUGE part of the path of abundance.
That’s why I wanted to share our story with you.
Daniel transitioned to Savannah fully just over a year ago. At that time, we were approached by one of Australia’s major TV networks (Channel 7) to do a story on our family and on Daniel’s transition to Savannah, for a program called Sunday Night. The in-depth story aired as a 21 minute segment (split into two parts of 14 minutes and 7 minutes each).
You can watch the two parts here:
Watch ‘Becoming Savannah’ Part 1
Watch ‘Becoming Savannah’ Part 2
The team at Sunday Night did a brilliant job. It was an incredibly sensitive and respectful piece of storytelling that has profoundly impacted many people from all around the world.
One year on from the initial television airing to 1.5 million people, it’s since been shared widely on social media and through the transgender community, their families and friends. We’ve received so many messages telling us that our story inspired and positively affected people… that it helped to raise awareness, understanding and empathy for transgender people. It was so wonderful to get feedback like that.
I’m so proud of the woman that Savannah has become, and of the elegant transition that she and our whole family has made.
For me, the journey has highlighted a few essential truths:
True love has no labels. True love has no conditions. True love exists between hearts.
Let me know in the comments if this post has helped you! (And please, on this one I would request that you post only respectful comments.)
To YOUR Abundance,
Julie Ann Cairns
