How do I love me?
I love my brown hair and how it sparkles in the sunlight
I love my friends and how they help me grow,
I love the way I sing when no one is listening-and
I love how I have become who I am.
With each year I carry around the memories of my past.
I carry the girl who cried because Gaston scared her at DisneyLand
and the girl who timidly tumbled into cheerleading.
The girl who was so desperate for a drink she swallowed ashes and coca-cola.
The girl who never got quiet when people told her she was too loud, and
the girl who baked food she never ate to pass the time that lasted forever,
but also went too quickly.
The girl who says “girl” way too often,
and the girl who spends twenty minutes choosing a shirt to wear.
The girl who sang a country song in a parking lot when a baby was born.
The girl who stumbled over her words, and made friends with walls in forensics,
and the girl who swam with dolphins, sharks and a manatee.
The girl who likes to write when no one is reading,
and the girl who stays up late to finish a book.
The girl who likes to capture memories like fireflies and never let them go,
and the girl who yearns to leave the sill of the world behind her.
The girl who grew up with three dogs and the “zoo bathroom.”
The girl who paints a tree without a trunk,
and the girl who dives to the depths of the ocean to play sharks and minnows
in the basement of the Australians.
If you ask me.
If you just ask me who I am,
I will answer showing you the girls who have created the woman I am today.