I'm in the middle of my first not-so-bad period since... probably the first year I had my period. I remember writing a piece called "Scarlet Perfection" about periods and how great they are for my friend's zine. Given the sharp nosedive my quality of life during that time of the month after the first year, it's hard for me to remember what it was like. I never imagined that being 13 could feel so far away, only being 21 and all. But I do still remember the first day I got it (a funny story, in retrospect):
My dad, brother and I were watching a Laker game on TV (right after I told my mom about my "visitor"... who said she would procure some pads for me). Being in her 60s and from the Philippines, she had mostly used the old belted napkins before menopause. She decided to ask my sister-in-law for some until she could go to the store and motioned "discreetly" in front of all of us that I needed pads by making an upward wiping motion in front of her crotch and then a belt motion. My sister-in-law was confused because she had never even heard of these, but my brother sure remembered my mom having them in the bathroom when he was growing up. After about 5 minutes of my mom making these motions and my sister-in-law going "WHAT???? She needs some WHAT?????" my brother just turned his head toward her, and without moving his eyes from the TV, said, "She needs pads. Supple Cow needs pads."
