It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but I don’t know how to write in cursive. It wasn’t taught in school when I attended and I never bothered to learn it on my own. This has never been a problem for me, the only real use is signing my name and I know the letters necessary for that. Earlier this week, I realized that I needed to learn how to write a few more letters.
At my HRT appointment this week, I had to fill out a COVID-19 waiver before I could leave the waiting room. This isn’t unusual, I have been doing it for over a year, but this was the first time since switching to my new name. The form is straightforward, answer a few questions and then print and sign. I filled it out, printed my new name, went to sign, and realized I didn’t know how to sign my new name. I didn’t even know how to write the first letter in cursive, so I couldn’t even just do my initial and last name. I just froze, I had no idea what to do now. I must have just stared at it for 30 second before the receptionist interrupted my stupor by saying “you just need to sign it”. I ended up just signing my dead name, right next to my already printed new name. After handing it back to her, the receptionist briefly looked at it and told me that “it would have been fine to sign your new name.” I was too embarrassed to tell her that I just didn’t know how to. And this is why I spent 2 hours this weekend practicing signing my new name.
Natalie's Transition Diary 