Things change

It's my senior year in high school. Lots of stuff is about to change--some for the good, and some for the not-so-good. I'm trying to prepare myself for it by becoming much more involved with my schoolwork; more involved than I usually ever was before. And I'm taking on more responsibilities outside of school (like my job and running a workshop at the annual True Colors Conference in the spring). But, all of this change does not make for an easier existence for me. Oh, I may have much more fun this year (in fact, that's almost certain--I mean, True Colors is AWESOME) but my stress load is probably going to go through-the-roof. What I can be thankful for, however, is that I have great friends that I didn't have at this time last year that I can count on.

Before I started transitioning, which was actually officially right after I attended True Colors, I didn't really know where my life was going or who I could count on to be there for me when the crap really hit the fan. But now I have direction, and I have some people I know will always be there for me and be the best friends they could possibly be.

Anyway, the real big thing right now that I'm dealing with (hence the part about changes in the first paragraph) is that I don't know if I should legally change my middle name when I legally change my first name. I've never really liked my first name or my middle name at all, which is all the better reason to change the both of them. But my friend Ami got me thinking, after I told her that I wanted to change both of my names, that my middle name has some significant meaning because I share it with both my paternal and maternal grandmother. She said that she wanted to change her middle name at one point, too, because she also shares her middle name with some members of her family. But then, she told me, she really thought about it, and she realized that when the people she shares her middle name with die, she may not have any physical belongings of theirs from their will, but she will have her middle name. She will always share that with them. That's sweet, and it does make sense, but she's never had to seriously consider what her gender really is, like I have. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions?