A couple years ago, I was a general manager at Sonic. That was my job for years. I met many of people during my career there. I made life long friends, met people with many different talents, and met people with many different stories. One story I will never forget and I got reminded of recently through a message, is Travis.
Travis is a transgender male. When I met him a couple years ago he hadn’t come out yet. One day while on shift, Travis pulled me to the side and asked me a hypothetical question. He said he had a friend whom was transgender and he worked at another Sonic in another state. He mentioned his friend hadn’t come out yet because he was worried about the process at work. He wasn’t sure if his name was able to be changed, would everyone now call him by his “new” name? I told Travis that it should be an easy transition as far as name change considering we had an option to chose the name the employee wanted to go by. I reassured him that if this was something that this person wanted to do then it shouldn’t be hard. Travis thanked me and went on about his day.
A few weeks later, Travis approached me again. He told me the person whom he was talking about being transgender and being afraid of coming out was himself. I was in awe that he would come to me with this information. It is not something that I expected and I honestly didn’t know what to say. I responded in the best way I knew how. We, in that moment, changed his name in the computer. He would now be known as Travis as far as I was concerned. The company change was easy. Change a name tag. The part that came next was the hard part. Travis had become so comfortable with our relationship he opened up to me and told me that his family hadn’t been very accepting with the information. They were really giving him a hard time and he was showing to work late crying. Now most managers would probably would’ve reprimanded him for being late. I, on the other hand, took time to find out why and what I could do to help. He just needed an ear. Someone to listen. I became that person.
The other day, about 2 years later, Travis wrote me on social media. In his message he said how grateful he was for having me and that he took his first dose of testosterone and wanted me to be a part of his journey.
I cried…
I cried people. I cried because I was so happy he remembered to think of me when he took such a huge step into his life. I cried because I am so fucking happy for him. I am so happy he followed through and put himself first. He very easily could’ve tried to avoid the situation to make his family happy but he didn’t. He moved away, started his own life with his spouse, and did what made him happy. Travis, I am so honored to be a part of your journey. I hope I can continue to be a part of it and know I will always be here for you! I love the person you are. You are so brave and loving. I wish all things happy for the rest of your life.
Now, I’m not saying all this to toot my own horn, I am saying this to say… if you are part of the LGBTQ community and your mom isn’t understanding… come to me. I’ll be your mom. Need a sister, I’m a great sister, just ask mine. Need a daughter? I am one of those too. Just reach out. You can find me on Facebook at Belinda Cromer. Instagram at boobaby29_ TikTok @bblinda603 REACH OUT. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE.
Disclaimer: I will not put your story on the internet unless you allow it. Travis agreed to being part of the blog ♥️
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