As a child decades ago, I began to resent being a girl and wished with all my heart that I could be a boy, so I became a “tomboy” for a few years. We wore dresses to school, but afterwards, I changed into pants to climb trees, build forts, chase away neighbor bullies, ride my bicycle everywhere, and play imaginary pastimes with my sister and friends.

My inward gender preference was never expressed to my parents and, if noticeable, it would have been chalked up as normal childhood behavior  (“tomboys” were and are common). It was only my passing inward dissatisfaction about being a girl. A few years later those feelings did pass, and I became feminine and content to be a girl, enjoying the company of young men that continued until my marriage. Children joined our family, bringing me joy as a mother and later as a grandmother.

I’m very grateful that my childhood attitude took place long ago and not today, or I may have been coaxed into being a candidate for sex change which would have been a big mistake for me with lost opportunities of motherhood and a loving posterity.

Kay Smith, Mapleton

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