Carly T. • Pennsylvania • 24
I was 13... It was the night before we left for the annual extended-family beach vacay. I LOVE THE BEACH. Relaxing? Not this time. YOU CAN’T WEAR A PAD IN THE OCEAN. And of course it was after midnight, so my mom was zonked out getting ready for a 6 hour drive.
I woke her up and she told me where to find tampons, and I probably spent 2 hours going through a half a box before I went back demanding her to tell me how to even attempt to get a tampon into, what I now know is called, the urethra... that same night, I discovered what my actual vagina was, got a tampon in there, and tried my damnedest to ignore it’s uncomfortable fit.
After connecting with my cousins and conscious mother the next day, I was finally taught how to insert a tampon further than an inch inside myself.
