Detachable Heart

1985. Outside the gym, waiting for the bell to ring. A.S. walked up to me and asked if I shaved my legs. Stunned and confused I said, "No." A.S. threw a look back to her posse of girls and they all burst out laughing at me. I was 10 years old and had no idea that women shaved their legs. In that moment I knew I was not acceptable.

2014. In Target, watching Tori pick out a Hello Kitty lunchbox for preschool. She twirled in delight and carried it all the way to the register, her pride evident in every movement of her body. I can't help but wince, imagining some cruel kid mocking her lunch box. Maybe not now, not in a preschool, but some day. One day, someone will deflate my darling child and she will believe, falsely, that she is not acceptable, and my heart will explode from the pain of witnessing it.