Inspired by TG Swapping Caps series Humans of the Great Shift
The Great Shift was chaos incarnate. One moment, I was in my small, cozy kitchen, icing a cake for my granddaughter’s birthday. The next, I was staring at an unfamiliar reflection through the lenses of multiple cameras—a tall, chiseled young man in a tuxedo.
It’s been six months since the Great Shift. I still haven’t figured out how to knot a tie properly, but I’ve mastered walking in these impossibly long legs. My name is still Mary to me, though strangers call me “Ethan” now. My voice doesn’t carry the warmth of sixty years of motherhood, but instead, it resonates with the smooth confidence of youth.
I miss the quiet simplicity of my old life—the way my hands told stories of gardening, baking, and a thousand hugs. But this new body carries a strength I never knew I could possess. I’ve started jogging, something my aching knees never allowed before. I’ve learned to savor the sharp taste of espresso instead of tea.
The world is still adjusting. People stare at my “new self” when I absentmindedly hum an old Sinatra tune or smile too kindly. They don’t know that behind these unfamiliar eyes, I’m still me—Mary. Just in someone else’s skin.
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