Me, as a Teen

How we change with time, huh?

Photo ©2010 Helen Dawson

Well, heavens... At what age as a teenager?



I turned a teen at 13, but there were many changes between 13 & 19...



I never was a "shrinking Violet, " though I was not either a rowdy teen...



I had several decent friends, and pretty much avoided those who had no scruples and those who made jokes about things they had stolen from local businesses.



One extremely cute guy in my class named Jack, who practically every girl in school was after was one of those kids I chose to avoid. He thought he was the "Cock of the Walk" so to speak, and dressed in muscle shirts, and tight fitting levis, but was not the sort of person I wanted to be friends with at all.



There was also a very tall new girl in my class who was new to our area. Her family was from New York (Brooklyn), so of course she had the usual Brooklyn accent, and a temper to boot.



She towered over all the rest of us, and I guess she thought she had to be tough to be accepted.



One day, she tried to pick a fight with me, and I told her that I didn't believe in fighting. Then of course, she called me "chicken." She said something to the effect, "You scared to fight?"



I said I was not afraid to fight, but that I didn't like fighting. Then, she said again, "C'mon, fight!"



I said, "I didn't say I don't know how to fight, but that I don't like to fight. I will not fight unless you start it, and if you do, you had better make your first punch your best one, 'cause that's the only one you will get. You start the fight, and I will finish it."



Sharon, her name, never bothered me again. Actually, she respected me, and we became good friends. I don't even remember her trying to start another fight with anyone.



Maybe it was something I said? Or maybe it was because I was one of the shortest kids in class, even though I was not the youngest, and she had blown her credibility since I gave her the option of striking the first blow, and when I said I would finish it, it may have made her feel like a "chicken."



This all was when I was in the sixth grade.



LATER AS A TEEN:



I married at age 18, and was 5'3" and weighed 110, had brown hair, blue eyes, and my measurements were 40-22-36.



Our first child was born one year and four days after our first wedding anniversary.



Is that enough?



I'm now 65, weigh more than I'd like and am still 5"3" with gray hair, blue eyes, and now wear glasses.



However; people who knew me many years ago could, until the last year or so. still recognize me, until my hair turned almost entirely gray very rapidly over the past 18 months.



I still have my own teeth, and am still the same person, although I have been widowed since 1995.