Tall Drank'a Water

Did I mention that I am 6 foot 2?? No? Well, I am. Why the heck does that matter?? Only because it has been one of the biggest dating hurdles I have encountered. (Outside of every guy I meet being a DB) My height has been the one big thing that has caused me insecurities and self esteem issues and guess what?!? Insecurities about oneself makes dating a real peach.

I was 6 feet tall in the 8th grade. Take a moment and think back to the guys you knew in 8th grade....got a few pictured?? Yeah. They are shorty short dudes aren't they. So imagine being the tallest girl in your class and the shortest guy asks you to the 8th grade winter dance. First thought - "YAY!! I got asked to the dance." Second thought - "OMG, the jolly green giant and peewee pipsqueak. dancing together?!?....I am never gonna live this down." What does this equal? The 8th grade equivalent of a nervous breakdown. Standing in the mirror looking at my unruly, curly hair. Crying. Assessing every single outfit I own. Crying. Finding nothing acceptable. Crying. Begging my mother to take me shopping. Crying. Being told to "borrow something from one of my friends, it is not that big of a deal". Screaming and crying. Realizing that nothing my friends own fit me. They are tiny little fairy like creatures and I am the jolly green giant. A pair of their pants translate into capri pants on me - this was when capri pants weren't cool. And the shirts?! Let's not even go there. Ridiculous. Usher in insecurity and self esteem issues. Doesn't seem like a reason to want to crawl in a hole and die. But it was. I went to that dance with peewee pipsqueak and I heard every snicker and mean remark. I smiled like I was having the time of my life but all the while I was looking at every girl in the gym. And I wished I could be anybody but me. That was the last time a boy asked me to a dance that year. It was also the moment that I realized I was never going to look like the other girls...

I should have embraced that moment and gotten some inspiring pep talk from my mother. Instead I decided I was doomed to be the ugly duckling for the rest of my life. And my mother told me to stop worrying so much about other people. Super inspirational mom, thanks.