Starlet R • USA • 48
I always remember when I started my period because it was the day before the Fourth of July.
My Mom was shopping for maternity clothes at the local Kmart. I was just happy to tag along. In a few months, I was going to be a big sister. I was the designated shopping cart pusher. I zig-zagged the shopping cart down the aisles admiring the maternity clothes. I saw a blouse that I wanted my mother to see then suddenly the sharpest pain hit my stomach. I hunched over, squeezing the shopping cart handle. My Mom heard my groans and asked if I was OK. I frowned, then smiled pushing through the pain. We were out shopping and I wasn’t going to let my stomach interfere with getting new stuff.
“Do you like this one?” I said pointing at a white v-neck short sleeve maternity blouse with light pink polka dots and a pink ribbon centered at the V, 1980s fashion at its finest. She smiled and told me to put the blouse in the cart.
The next morning as I awoke I felt this mushy sensation in my privates. For the last couple of days, I noticed this clear, sticky Vaseline-looking stuff in the crotch of my panties. I didn’t know what that was and I definitely didn’t tell anyone. I just wiped it with a tissue. Here we go again, I thought. I yawned as I got out of bed. I kept one eye closed because I didn’t want to be fully awake because I had every intention of going back to sleep.
All of the doors in our house were sliding doors. For some odd reason, my Mom allowed my sister and me to have the master bedroom. I slid the bathroom door open and the cold air-conditioned air seeped out. The floor was cold and then I became cold. We had a unique toilet seat. It was clear and filled with real coins. The lid of the toilet seat had real dollars that were set in a circular. I was literally sitting on money.
I pulled down my panties, let out a few small farts, then trickles of pee flowed into the toilet. I yawned then grabbed a big wad of tissue wrapping it repeatedly around my right hand. I yanked the tissue to separate it from the roll. I yawned again and then I wiped down there. At the time I used to wipe up. More clear stuff, I thought, but this time it wasn’t clear, it was the brightest red I have ever seen. My eyes were open wide. Both eyes. My mouth dropped. I don’t even think I flushed or washed my hands. I ran to my mother’s room to tell her the news. She accompanied me back to the bathroom, I pulled down my underwear, wiped it, and showed her.
My Mom tightened her rope and said, “Aww my baby started her period.”
I cried.
My older sister work up and stood at the bathroom door.
“You started your period?! You just turned 12.”
My sister would also tell me that I was a woman now. “So you need to stop playing with those Barbie Dolls and those ugly Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls.”
“Shut up!” I snapped back.
Starting my period was very traumatizing for me. I didn’t ask for it it just popped up and rocked my world. Eventually, I wrote about it my first YA novel, I’m Changing, Friendships, Drama and… Oh The Comma?
I recently celebrated my 36th year of having a period! It hasn’t been joyous, but she’s been with me for decades.
