Thank You, Claire
So. Yeah. This. I wanted to talk about my partner, Claire. The person in my life who has most thoroughly and fully witnessed and welcomed my complete self.
So the first time we ever got really close was, on Ilkley Moor. We were laying on the ground, looking up at the stars, and there were some shooting stars. And I thought, “oh, there's some shooting stars.” And I mentioned that thinking it was kind of ordinary, but she'd never seen one before. And I was like, “Wow. That's strange. But okay.” But that stuck with me really, as a motif for something. What was it a motif for? Maybe that I had something to bring.
Perhaps there's something... It was a struggle in my 20s, particularly to form relationships with women because they expected something else than what they got. And that kind of slowly clarified through my 30s. And then I met Claire in my 40s. And it’s just been magnificent, the fullness of that relationship, because she welcomes all of me. The girl part and the boy part, equally.
Maybe for the first time in my life, it actually feels like a genuine, complete relationship because of that. There's no part of me missing or hidden. Including from myself. Because that's partly also the job of becoming who one is is a slow job, or can be. I don't think I really started doing it until my late 40s, probably. And I'm 60 now. So you could argue that she got the best bit of me, and that I was probably a bit of a nightmare before at times. But yeah, it's been wonderful. And, Yeah, I just want to celebrate that thing about being seen and being known and being recognised, as who one is. Yeah.
So thank you, Claire.
So the first time we ever got really close was, on Ilkley Moor. We were laying on the ground, looking up at the stars, and there were some shooting stars. And I thought, “oh, there's some shooting stars.” And I mentioned that thinking it was kind of ordinary, but she'd never seen one before. And I was like, “Wow. That's strange. But okay.” But that stuck with me really, as a motif for something. What was it a motif for? Maybe that I had something to bring.
Perhaps there's something... It was a struggle in my 20s, particularly to form relationships with women because they expected something else than what they got. And that kind of slowly clarified through my 30s. And then I met Claire in my 40s. And it’s just been magnificent, the fullness of that relationship, because she welcomes all of me. The girl part and the boy part, equally.
Maybe for the first time in my life, it actually feels like a genuine, complete relationship because of that. There's no part of me missing or hidden. Including from myself. Because that's partly also the job of becoming who one is is a slow job, or can be. I don't think I really started doing it until my late 40s, probably. And I'm 60 now. So you could argue that she got the best bit of me, and that I was probably a bit of a nightmare before at times. But yeah, it's been wonderful. And, Yeah, I just want to celebrate that thing about being seen and being known and being recognised, as who one is. Yeah.
So thank you, Claire.