I was 'out' to everyone I knew EXCEPT my mom. At work I was known for the professional way in which I conduct myself, but also for the fact that I was a lesbian that wasn't afraid to answer any tricky questions. My motto once again, If you are brave enough to ask the question, you have to have guts to hear the truth! Just don't bloody ask me 'How we do it!!!'

My mom was diagnosed with Ovarian Carcinoma. Shortly after that, she wrote me a letter (we stayed twelve hours drive away from each other) about how she felt about things she never had the courage to share with HER dad before he died. I guess, being diagnosed with a lethal illness, gets you to think more than you would otherwise!

I felt that, in a way, she was asking me if I had anything I wanted to share with her before SHE died!

I grabbed the opportunity and wrote her a letter of 16 pages, explaining how it happened and how I was still her daughter. Nothing much had changed in my life, except for the fact that I didn't sleep with a man anymore! She was oblivious to the fact. My letter COMPLETELY bowled her over. I was living with a woman for three years before then, and she was still clueless!!! She thought we were only 'sharing expenses'! Meanwhile we were sharing so much more!

Three months later, I couldn't stand her silence anymore. I phoned her (thought I'd give her ample chance to contact ME first as well as digest the news!). The disappointment in her voice was too much for me to handle! I lived for my mom! I hated doing anything that disappointed her!

She slowly accepted the fact in the two years after I told her. She NEVER talked about it and also referred to my girlfriend at the time of "My daughter's friend". The only thing she DID ask me however, was if I was going to start wearing men's clothes! I never realized how innocent my mom really was! She was NEVER rude or unpleasant to my girlfriend ... even to the day she died. My x was the one to stand by me in the last two weeks of my mom's life. She stayed at the hospital with me, helped me take my mom to the bathroom and held me when I cried. My mom thanked her before she died ... and I knew, she finally made her peace!!