Then Came The Day I'd Been Dreaming About.
My daughter was having a pool party.
July. Blazing hot.
I was standing in my closet, staring at jeans, thinking: "I can't do this anymore."
I pulled out the denim shorts I'd shoved in the back in 2016.
My hands were shaking as I put them on.
I looked in the mirror.
And for the first time in eight years, I didn't feel disgusted by what I saw.
My legs looked normal. Not flawless. Not like they did when I was 30.
But normal.
Like regular legs that had lived a regular life.
Not something I needed to hide.
I Walked Outside In Shorts.
In broad daylight.
With my legs fully exposed.
For the first time since 2016.
In front of my daughter's friends. In front of neighbors.
In the bright sun where everyone could see. And nobody stared.
Nobody whispered. Nobody looked at my legs with pity or disgust.
Because they just looked like legs.
That night, I sat on my bed and cried.
Because I'd forgotten what it felt like to not be ashamed of my own body.
And now I remembered.