My story - long version

I have been cross dressing since I was about 7.  The feeling of pantyhose and slips was my first exposure.  Next was a pair of heels and then my sister's purple one piece swimming suit.

I've gone through purges and denial, but ME keeps coming back to the surface.

When I was dating my wife, I told her about the dressing and she tried to break it off.  Our connection was so strong we went through counseling.  The conclusion was that due to the relationship with my father, I was running away from masculinity and thusly I dressed.  It sounded reasonable and I stopped dressing.  We got married. I kept two boxes of my stuff in the garage.

About three years later, the desire for dressing was back as strong as ever.  I started dressing in private where opportunity allowed.  The downfall was the Mrs finding a receipt.  Then a couple of pictures on the computer.  And then the 8 boxes in the garage.

We went to another counselor and the long short of it is that she did not think I need to change.  She said that we need to ensure that our marriage is strong enough to work through this "perpetual" problem.

My wife knows that I dress, she does not like it, she does not understand it, but she does not want this to destroy our family.  She allows me to have the clothes in the house, but packed away from prying eye.  And I can dress when she is not around.  However, as a stay at home mother, she is around pretty much all of the time.  There is a day here or a couple of hours there.  I wish it were more.