I am now 11 years post top surgery. It has been 11 glorious years with my chest. Most men go through life without giving much thought to their chests, but as a transgender man, I think about mine almost every day. Unlike in the past, when my thoughts were consumed by the pain of gender dysphoria, they are now filled with gratitude. I hadn’t realized how much pain I was in until it was gone. It’s only in the absence of pain that I can truly understand how unbearable it was before. Perhaps that’s why gratitude will always be a part of me.