best friend and ex

On my myspace page I've changed my name to Sam. Originally I simply created a new account for Sam and the people that know and left my old account with my birth name. Recently I changed the old one to say Sam. It still says female. My best friend / Ex-boyfriend was apparently on his little sister's myspace page and saw my picture with the name Sam. Today he at first casually mentioned it at lunch and asked if a) I was going by Sam to any friends, and b) if I am transgender or if I'm questioning it. 

I think I wrote about him in a previous post, about how nervous I was to tell him because we've known each other for almost seven years and we dated for about three. He knew everything about me, except my gender issues. Now he knows everything there possibly is to know. He said

"Part of me will always see you as Shira, I was in love with Shira. But I love you for who you are and I will always love you. I think you were brought into this life to figure out who you are. No one can tell you who you should be. You need to live your life and be comfortable with who you are. If you want me to start calling you Sam I have no problem doing that." 

Not an exact match, but pretty close. He's my best friend, will always be the person I can rely on no matter what. He may not always like what I do, but he respects me and I respect him. He helped me come out as a lesbian while he and I were dating... I will always cherish his friendship, for the rest of my life.