I’m at a loss for the right thing to say now that she identifies as them/they. It seems like yesterday she came into this world a beautiful newborn baby girl gasping for her first breath, wailing that she's here. Perfect fingers and toes, thin searching lips, tiny flailing arms, wrinkly bowlegs and barely a wisp of black hair.

Yesterday to today, so much ground covered, so many hand-in-hand walks through the neighborhood, to and from school, Saturdays along the beach. So many books read and memories created, so many smiles and tears of joy, love, pain, disappointment, and confusion. So much confusion. Now a new clarity, at least for her, settles in providing a window into the depth of her confliction and fear. She’s grown into a beautiful young woman, to me, a beautiful them/they to her and her community. I still wrestle with what to say to my no longer little girl so grown and glowing. Them/they is proud, and so am I! Them/they is understanding but only so, patient but just so, accepting occasional misidentifications but with high expectations. My mind is aligning with this new vocabulary, my tongue and lips forming words that don’t naturally fit, in my mind and to my ears, that is. My heart knows though and beats the same, sending accepting and loving signals that land deeply, I pray, in the heart of them/they.
A subject about which I am passionate! Love this, love you, and love to they/them. The current political climate is hard to understand but let’s continue to do our best with preferred pronouns and, if need be, offering shelter if things get even dumber and uglier.
Beautifully articulated.