Never Happy with Height
(This image is from the day I officially became the shortest in my family. I’m not positive of the year, but I’m going to guess my brother is 12 and I’m 22–give or take a year for both of us in either direction.)
Though I have 5’3″ on my license because I prefer odd numbers, I always believed I was 5’2″. When I stopped growing at 5’2″, I was bummed. It sounded really short. And I certainly didn’t like being the shortest Downie in my family, especially because I’m seven and ten years older than my younger siblings.
But even though 5’2″ didn’t seem tall, I never felt short, and, eventually, I grew to like that feeling–feeling taller than I was. I came to see the many benefits of being vertically challenged. If it rains, I get to stay drier longer than tall people, to name one.
So it came as a huge surprise about a year ago when I had a doctor’s visit and discovered I was 5’4″. I was stunned and happy because […]