Why I love being tall

Dear Autumn,

At five, I witnessed how my friends never called me cute because I was already four feet tall. Teachers and children don't define cute as the tallest girl in the classroom. In all childhood games with other little girls, I was never “the baby.” Babies got piggy-back rides and were carried. No one was interested in carrying me. In EVERY class pictures, I stood in the back row next to the teacher. You could never see my pretty skirt and shiny Mary-Jane shoes. By eleven, I was five foot six inches tall. I never wore a training bra and wore a starter-B cup bra. By thirteen, I was five foot ten inches tall.

Assumptions abound about tall people: Tall people don't know everything but almost everyone else thinks they do from the ages of 4-15. This assumption fades once everyone is in the throes of puberty and self-importance overrides all other beliefs. Hold on, my sweet-sweet girl, you are only eight, so there is plenty of time for people to assume all kinds of things about you. Don’t worry. I don’t care what other people think, so I am ready to defend you and crush their ignorance.

Sports: Everyone will think you should be brilliant at basketball. When I wasn’t the failure was monumental. I played for my freshman high school team. I scored once the entire season. The shortest girl on the team, Julie, scored all the time. She then went onto Varsity and I went to the stage. Fast. Everyone will assume you are fast because your legs are already 2 feet long. Luckily you are crazy fast, so enjoy that. Thank your dad. He is the coordinated one.

At 16, I stopped growing when I hit six feet tall. My figure measured at 38-28-36 and stupid people told me I was fat. People can be stupid and mean. Identify them early and release their toxicity in your life. I would pose nude now if I looked like that still.

Your best friend will most likely be really short. Mine was. Most of my friends are significantly shorter than me. It will be harder to find other Amazons like yourself. Cherish the friends that can feel secure around you. Those are the ones to keep for life.

I always get lost in crowds but I am easily found. All you have to do is look up and you’ll find me. You are a massacre when it comes to directional sense. I’ll buy you a smartphone with a GPS. But when you are in crowds, tell your friends to look up. They’ll see you before you locate them.

Never shrink or hunch yourself over. Never make yourself smaller in any way for anyone else in the world. No one should define you, limit you, or make you feel or act smaller than you are.

No one ever says I wish I was short, once they grow up. I make all my short friends tell you this for a reason. Listen to them. They love you like I do. Everyone is beautiful in their own package, Your package is TALL, hilarious, elegant, goofy and cute! Your face is shaped like a heart and your heart is kind and filled with love.