Flowers

Sniffing the freshly bloomed flowers Jadalynn stood and took in her surroundings. She had bought the house toward the end of summer the previous year, when so many of the flowers had already lost their blooms. Now spring was here, and she was getting to admire the work the previous owners had put into the landscaping. 

Tulips and Irises were peeping their colors, while Hosta’s pushed forth from the earth bringing greenery to a once dull bed. It had been a long frosty winter and even though Jadalynn enjoyed the fireplace her new house offered she was grateful for the warmth of the spring sun. Soon her yard would be buzzing with activity. From the birds who were already building nests high up in the treetops, to the squirrels who were coming out of hibernation and gathering up seeds that had fallen to the ground.  

Coffee was her drink of choice and this morning she was having it under the awning of her back porch. Birdfeeders still hung empty from their hooks, so the birds chirped around her on the ground, hopping on one foot then the other as they caught insects that were also coming up to enjoy some nourishment and sunshine. 

The early bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets eaten for breakfast. She chuckled to herself at the irony of that statement. She remembered the days of being both the early worm and the early bird. Having started at the bottom of the barrel in her job as a dispatcher in a trucking company, to becoming one of the only female drivers for the company, to eventually buying and now owning the company.  

“Hard work pays off little bird” she said aloud, knowing the bird wasn’t listening, nor would they have cared if they did.  

She, however, did care. She cared very much.  

Having grown up as someone entirely different, Jadalynn transitioned from a depressed introverted man, who had very few friends, to a beautiful woman who owned her own successful trucking company. The transition had not been easy, especially as a truck driver, but she never carried a victim mentality. Her boss at the time fully supported her transition, unlike many family members, and was more than willing to give her the time she needed for a full recovery.  

Jadalynn just wanted to be seen by others as she saw herself and wanted to get back to doing what she loved. The open road gave her the freedom she desired with a paycheck to support her. She had other goals as well. She wanted to be a homeowner, she wanted to run the business, she wanted to find love. 

"Two out of three ain’t bad," she referred to an old Meatloaf song when telling people her wants and dreams. ‘You’ll find love someday,’ was the answer she normally received.  

This morning she felt love, love for herself, love for her environment, love for her accomplishments. She had great friends, had traveled all over the world, and still had a bucket list she was working on. She was only two weeks away from starting flight lessons. She was determined to learn to fly and then purchase a small craft plane. She had dreams of flying her friends to exciting destinations for lunches and dinners. Mybe a day trip to the beach, or overnight in the mountains to go skiing the next day. The possibilities were endless.  

To see her now, you would never have known that just ten years earlier she was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Depression had caused her to overdose on her anti-depression medication that she mixed with alcohol, sleeping pills and Nyquil. Her roommate found her lying face down on the floor beside the couch after arriving home from work early one night. Jadalynn’s breath was barely audible. EMS arrived within minutes, but her pulse was basically non-existent.  

Her family was called in to say their goodbyes, but Jadalynn wasn’t done with this world. When she woke up she knew what she had to do. She knew she could not live one more day as ‘he.’ In that moment, her life changed, literally. As soon as she got out of the hospital, she started researching gender reassignment doctors. The first thing she had to do was one year of therapy to make sure this was what she really wanted. She told her therapist she didn’t need a year to decide, she had spent twenty-five years deciding. But the law is the law, so she went to her appointments, chose the doctor and location for her surgeries, talked to her boss, who told her it was about damn time, how he knew was beyond her, but she was simply happy he was supportive. Then when her year was up, she cashed in her savings account and went through the transition.  

It had been nine years since the surgery and those nine years had carried many ups and downs. None of which made her regret a second of her decision. Now today, she was sitting in HER yard, looking at HER flowers, feeling very pretty in HER sundress. She had a friend coming over for coffee soon and they would talk about life, laugh at something silly, maybe lay in the hammock or go cruising in her convertible. There were options and they were all good.  

Life was meant to be enjoyed. It took her a long time to realize that, but from the moment she woke up in the hospital and realized she had been given another chance, she had not wasted one minute of it. 

Just then she heard the gate to her yard open as her friend walked through. Getting up to greet her Jadalynn was rewarded with a hug. Smiling, her friend poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee from the side table that was set up for outdoor mornings. She lived a good life, and she knew it.  

“How are you feeling this morning,” the friend asked taking a sip of her coffee.  

Jadalynn stretched out her arms pointing at all the blooming flowers and the birds in the yard. 

“I’m feeling alive,” she smiled. “Life is wonderful!”  

“Yes, it is” her friend replied. “Yes, it most certainly is.”