When I was a kid, we used to go to air shows a lot as a family. The last time I went to one, I was in junior high. Eager to prolong the summer fun, a friend of the family had invited me back to their home afterwards. I vividly remember details of the car ride. He suggested we go swimming, crabbing, and jump off his mom’s dock, perfect things for kids and summer, and said his mom could stop at our house so I could get my bathing suit.
I told him I didn’t have one, and then he suggested we just stop off and buy one.
As a boy, he didn’t understand. And as a girl, it was a turning point for me. In terms of boys, bathing suits, and weight gain.
It was the summer when I had gained maybe 10 or 20 pounds and had started to feel uncomfortable about it. I had always been super skinny as a kid, and this was the summer that things started to shift.
Just one of those random, life changing moments that has stuck with me ever since.
It’s funny how things evolve. That boy is now a Dad to a young son (his son is about Madeline’s age), and we now live in the same town as his Mom, who actually was a huge help to Nick a few months ago on an end-of-school-year project.
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