Four weeks from today, as I close my eyes
As the light of this world slowly fades
Soft blackness envelopes me, bringing focus
My journey, a lifetime in the making is at it’s end

My existence hangs in the balance
I trust I will awaken, but there is no certainty
If this is my moment to move among the stars
Know that I am at peace with my choices
I have chosen my path, I have rewritten my future

My last thoughts will not be ones of regret
But of pride to have done what so many could not.
If I die within sight of my goal, to some an utter failure
Will still fill my heart with satisfaction
To have been moving forward to the very end.

28 days from now I will open my eyes for the very first time
As a woman newly born, I will take my first breath,
The pain and discomfort I feel, the price of Rachel’s birth
I have delivered her into this new world, into this her new body
She begins her new life, complete and whole.

Twenty eight days from now the tears will flow.
They will taste different from the tears of loss
Unlike the cold tears of heartbreak
Different from the bitter tears of disappointment
They will be warm sweet tears of joy..