RANSVESTIA

When Dawn and Barbara arrived at that gathering Saturday, Barbara thought it was two people.

1. Barbara and

2. Jim impersonating Dawn.

In my mind two people met you that night. You have shown me that I was wrong. Subsequently I now see three people.

I see myself and I see a dual personality. I have lived with these people for six years and had not understood. Being the rational person that I am, I have been striving to understand my husband. However, I had been conditioned to think that one body means one person. That was my mistake. I now see that Dawn and Jim are two separate entities fused in one body.

My realization of this fact has given me the peace-of-mind that I have been searching for. Pardon the pun, but the 'Dawn' has come.

I'm happy and hopeful now. I no longer think that I have a husband who is 'sick' and needs my help to be cured.' I think I am one of three people who can learn to live peacefully together. I know I now have an excellent opportunity to make my life fuller. That makes me happy.

I have a suggestion to make that may ease a lot of the tensions that people like us have encountered. It is simply that we strive to see the dual personalities as two people instead of one.

From now on, when I see Dawn I'm going to see a girl. A girl who just happens to share the same body and intellect of Jim. I don't know Dawn well, but, knowing Jim, I expect Dawn and I can be good friends. I have to remember to keep the two in perspective thats all.

I have to treat Dawn as a brand new acquaintance though. She knows a lot about "My Jimmy" but "She" is a woman in her own right. There- fore I can't think or refer to her as “Jim.”

Our conversations are going to require a constant realization of this fact until we reach the point where we are comfortable together as two friends should be. Therefore we will have to be very conscious of our tenses at first. Dawn is not at work this evening, Jimmy is. If Dawn makes any reference to "the plant" or "the guys at work" it is going to make her uncomfortable. "She" was not there. Jimmy was. On the other hand if I ask Dawn "what happened at work today” or how "His"