Having the Period Talk for the First Time

I never got the talk. I was 11 when it first happened, and my mother was on a business trip. It just hadn’t come up in conversation before then. My dad acted quickly by dropping me at my oldest sister’s apartment — she’s 15 years older than me — where she talked to me about … pads, I think? None of it was especially memorable except her stories about leaking, which were meant to comfort me. I hadn’t yet even considered the possibility.

I wasn’t scared — just embarrassed. I was the first girl in my class to get my period, which at the time felt painfully unfair. I viewed my period as a disadvantage, a flaw that should be hidden rather than carried with pride. I obsessed over how to get my pad to the bathroom at school, dreading anyone noticing. I panicked when I heard that many girls took a break from sports, especially swimming, during their periods. I quickly taught myself how to use a tampon. I never complained about my period or missed a game or school because of it. I did everything I could to hide it.