Milestones (a/k/a The Breast Years of My Life)

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a pleasant holiday season so far. Things have been quite busy here, between work and moving and various other adventures. I have another post that is about half complete, but I suddenly realized yesterday that I had completely overlooked a major milestone:

Five years of HRT.

:-O

For those of you not overcome by the vapors, follow along below the jump for more!


It scarcely seems possible that it has been five years since that day I stood in my bedroom, seemingly forever, staring at those pills in my hand that I knew would change my life forever. (Thank goodness my dear friends T & J were in Newport that afternoon waiting to meet me for lunch, or I might still be standing there, rumbling stomach be damned...)

Of course, I finally gave in to hunger pangs and tossed them down before heading off to sate my appetite. That was the first step in my journey from here:

To here (apologies for the unruly 'do - the wind it does howl here come December, as you can see):

It has been a tumultuous journey, to put it mildly.

But the heartache and pain, devastating as they have been (and are), all pale in comparison to the joy of finally living the life I should have been living all along.

Facing my most painful memories and deepest feelings of guilt and fear and shame, and confronting them over and over and over, was/is utterly exhausting - *and* totally necessary. I have seen firsthand what happens when one chooses not to do so. But the difficulties pale in comparison to the joy of finally living the life I should have been living all along.

I'm not completely where I want to be quite yet.

But I'm very close.

And if I can do it, so can anyone reading this.

Can't wait to see where I am - literally and figuratively - when my sixth anniversary rolls around. See you here next year!!! :c)

***

Since this post celebrates a milestone, what better song to accompany it *than* "Milestones," courtesy of its composer, Miles Davis?

"Milestones" is now recognized as a jazz standard, and the first instance of Davis composing in the modal style he would use for 1959's landmark Kind of Blue album.

Bill Evans, who played piano on Kind of Blue, also recorded "Milestones" with his legendary trio on 1962's Waltz for Debby:

Sadly, the performance from which "Milestones" is taken was the last show bassist Scott LaFaro played with Evans and drummer Paul Motian; he was killed in a car accident ten days later.

The tracks on Sunday at the Village Vanguard, the album preceding Waltz for Debby, were selected specifically to highlight La Faro's remarkable performance .Both albums are considered among the greatest live jazz albums ever recorded. One listen to "Milestones" will show you why.

Have a great weekend, everyone!