When I was little, I wanted to be a princess, a popstar, a fashion designer, a fairy, and an actress all at once. I was absolutely convinced it was possible.

When I was little, I covered my eyes when I saw people kissing in movies. It was so gross! (Though secretly, I always watched through the cracks between my fingers.)

When I was little, I wore my hair in pigtails, braids, french braids, tiny buns… but never in a ponytail. It was just too boring. How would I attract the attention of my future prince without making my hair interesting?

When I was little, I put on my slide-y socks and slid around the kitchen pretending I was the queen of ice, gliding across my domain of ice crystals. (I broke a good many wine glasses that way. It was worth all the scolding I got.)

When I was little, I scraped my knees a million, bajillion times. I was an explorer-fairy-adventurer-future princess for goodness sake! I couldn’t let my knees get in my way!

When I was little, my friends and I would pretend that we were mermaids whenever we went swimming. We even came up with mermaid stories for each other. I was Marion, the daughter of King Charles, the mer-ruler of the Western Sea (the deep end of the pool).

When I was little, I wanted to be the President. Specifically so I could get rid of homework and distribute free ice cream to everyone. And so I could boss everyone around.

When I was little, the playground swings brought me into space, where I saw Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Pluto… (I’m not kidding! I swear I saw them!)

When I was little, I read a billion books about princesses and adventures, pirates and princes, kings and queens, epic victories and defeats.

When I was little, I’d sit by my window when the rain started pouring, and wish that I could be someone.

When I was little, I wasn’t afraid to dream.