Tag: children

I Didn’t Recognize Her

.Reading time 6 minutes.

“Hello, Mr. Myers,” she said with a beautiful smile.

Startled, I replied in kind. She stood before me in anticipation while I watched the sun peak through her golden hair. Searching for something to say, I told her that I liked her dress.

“Thank you. When we went to the store, I made sure it had some yellow in it,” she beamed as she twirled slightly to let the flow of the dress boast its color.

“Kylie would love that,” I answered.

“I thought so, too. Well, I’ll see you later,” she said as she bounded off toward her friends.

I watched her rush off until she was engulfed in a sea of young women all flaunting perfectly-styled hair, manicured nails, and the prettiest dresses their closets could produce. The boys – awkward in their ties – stood off to the side bucking horns, pretending not to be fascinated with their more delicate classmates. At fourteen, I could see the beginnings of the magnetic pull that they would deny as long as possible then succumb to as if they ever had a choice. Read More

Outed!

.Reading time 5 minutes.

We all have little secrets – skeletons in our closet that we don’t want revealed. Some of us are hiding mouse-sized skeletons and some can barely keep the door closed because of the behemoth bones crowding every square inch of our tiny coat closet. My bag of bones burst through the door last weekend and it wasn’t pretty. I got outed.

I’ve always maintained that I’m not bright enough to keep a secret for very long – which turned out to be true. No one would have to waterboard me to get me to bare it, I would just let something slip in casual conversation that gave away whatever I was trying to hide. With most people, I have been able to stay quiet and hold my secret inside. But not in front of my family – to be quiet in front of them is suspicious in and of itself. But this time I kept my mouth shut! Even though it gnawed away at me, I stayed quiet and they still found out. Now they are judging me. Read More