It happened when I was no longer shorter
Than the counter-top
That counter that loomed over my head.
My nose came just to the very edge of the tan colored marble.
With raised hands I could be tall,
Like my older sister.
It happened when I no longer fit into my childhood clothes.
Winnie the Pooh pajamas,
Purple dinosaur slippers,
And pink fluffy sweaters, cuffs came up just a bit short.
Pants not quite reaching
Their final destination.
Boyish ankles showed off to the world.
It happened on my first day of middle school.
New people, new faces.
New adventures as mothers and fathers
put it.
The walls were green, like apples.
The teacher wore a flower print summer dress.
Her brunette hair lay long and flat.
It happened when he turned around.
He asked for a pencil.
Pens were much too sophisticated.
And markers outgrown,
He needed a friend.
My fingers traced the edge of the thin piece of paper,
He would need that too.
It happened when he smiled, and whispered, “Thanks.”
It happened when I smiled and whispered, “Anytime.