girls at ten.

I know I was going to talk about my airport woes today, but I’ve got way too much Making the Band to recap and other work to catch up on and my day is totally gone already. Oh, and there’s something wrong with my left eye. It’s all swollen and it hurts and I’d like to publicly announce that Omar gave me pink eye, but I don’t think it’s pink eye. It just hurts and it kind of drains and it’s swollen just a bit and I’m hideous and I won’t leave the house today.

I found this letter from a friend. She must have sent it when I was about nine. No wonder I had such insecurities as a little girl:

Dear Pam,

Hi! How are ya? How’s your sister? Hows your parents? Im fine. Im sitting hear with Sara. Do you like any boys? I don’t. I wear a bra. And I need one too. Weather’s terrific over here, How about there. School ok here. But my teacher is a little jerk. Ha ve you gotten your peirod yet. I haven’t yet but I’ll probaly get it this summer. I mean Im that matured. I mean not to brag or anything. Give me your address ok? And write me. Do you still have long hair? I do in the back and short in the front. Whens your birthday? Mines February 25, 1975. Whats your favorite song? Remember Mrs. B, well she wears strip pants and Guess sweatshirts. She looks so funny in them. Read any good books lately? What did you get on your report card. We just watched the Kentucky Derbie. It was instertsing. Ferniand won. I wish I had Bloned hair.

Whats your teachers name? Mines Mrs. T. The peppers are moving. I doubt you know them. Have you ever played truth or dare with boys? I’ts sort of fun. But you have to play with a boy you like. What’d you get for Christmas? I don’t want to go through what I got right now. there’s this guy named Chris, you know him proberly. Well anyway he has to take hieper pills. He’s REALLY HIEPER. I mean I don’t like him or anything. I wish you’d come back. It would be great if you did.

Do you go to camp? I do. Do you dress in style a lot? I sorta do.

Do you get Seventeen the magazine? I do, its good. You should get it. I heard about your friend and you. How’s it going with her? We had Sex Ed. It was boring but Im going to take it next year anyway.

Did you hear about Sara’s parents? I guess you have.

Well I gotta go

Love ya!!

BB

P.S. I miss you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much.

w/b.

(write back)

Love ya!!!

I remember reading that sixteen years ago thinking, “This is the dirtiest letter anybody has ever sent to me.” I was in trouble for reading Judy Blume. This was trash mail this girl was sending me.

No wonder I thought I was such a loser. That girl had Seventeen the magazine and sorta dressed in style a lot.

But I really did think that I was such a dork because this girl was hanging with boys and had grown-up big-girl issues and I was still wondering if I would get a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas and had the world put on hold every Sunday when Punky Brewster was on. This girl’s letter showed me that I wasn’t maturing as fast as some of my friends.

This was very apparent when I moved to the South. Y’all start kissing and macking in Kindergarten and it’s scary.

So, after this letter I think that’s the first time I bought a teen magazine. It was also about the time that I asked my mother if I could have a training bra. I think I might have also sat around waiting for my period.

I’m not proud, this is just what happened.

I have got to stop digging around these old boxes.