this is my story, and i'm sticking to it

i remember going camping in tinny flats with all my cousins, and always getting campsite 15
i remember late nights around the campfire, and long hikes to the bathroom
i remember crying when i saw a racoon for the first time, and not sleeping at all that night.

i remember the first time i went to the beach and my dad told me that the water tasted like cotton candy
i remember when my sister insisted that sharks could in fact walk on land.
i remember when my first sand castle went out with the tide, and took my shovel with it.

i remember having bath robe fashion shows in my unfinished basement with my sisters.
i remember when my brother pulled the head off my only ken doll, after using it to clean the toilet.
i remember when i finally got my own room, and getting scared to be alone at night.

i remember when i used to act the same at school as i did at home, and the friends who stuck by me.
i remember how the kids would tease me for being weird.
i remember the first time i rode a bike without tipping over, and how free i felt.

i remember totally biffing on a scooter, and knocking out a few of my teeth.
i remember the long wait at the ER and the cold ice pack they made me put on.
i remember the surgeries that followed, and the new pair of glasses.

i remember the summer before seventh grade when i did something to make me happy, not someone else.
i remember the feeling i had after i played my first softball game.
i remember not caring how bad it hurt to get hit with the ball, because i wanted to be where the action was.

i remember how weird i was in the eighth grade, and wonder how anyone could have liked me.
i remember looking at my closet and only seeing tye dye shirts, mens sweat pants and converse.
i remember the first time i saw my parents fight.

i remember the only time i didn't burn my tongue on hot chocolate, was when i left it in the fridge too long
i remember the only year of my life that i didn't want to be a cosmetologist.
i remember the awkward feeling when my neighbor found his older brother dead, and had to live with us for two weeks.

i remember the naive feeling of invincibility on the first day of ninth grade.
i remember the first time i met my best friend jean, and going to her house on friday the thirteenth.
i remember having my first kiss on the american fork baseball field.

i remember my first art class, and feeling so inferior to every one.
i remember when i actually started to get friends, and they stayed
i remember when my friday night schedules consisted of more than hanging out with my mom

i remember starting high school and being so excited to graduate.
i remember the first math teacher that actually understood why i struggled.
i remember wearing a peacock feather dress to my first school dance, and feeling like a princess.

i remember taking my first and only ACT.
i remember how fast the time went by, and how i got 10 points below all three of my sisters.

i remember when i got braces because my teeth were straight, but not straight enough.
i remember the day my coach told me that i was good enough to play college softball.

i remember seeing the orange sky when my neighbors house burned down on my birthday.
i remember when my friend told me she showed me why she always wore long sleeves.
i remember when i hated going to school and skipped every assembly.

i remember waking up for the first day of senior year, and only going because my brother needed a ride.
i remember cringing every time i heard the word college.
i remember being so terrified at the thought of ever moving out.

this is my life, and i love it.