To women

To all the women that I have ever known, past and present.

To Sarah down the street who had a cap gun.
To Nathan and Jeremy's mother who fed me spaghetti-o's despite my mom's directions not to.
To Erin, who lived on the other side of town and to my mother who drove me there for playdates. To Erin, with bobbed black hair and big brown eyes. We played house in your garden with the a tent your mom let you set up in the back yard.

To all the girls in elementary school who made fun of my short hair and called me a boy.
To all the girls in middle school who made fun of my short hair and called me a lesbian.
To all the girls in high school who were scared that I made them uncomfortable with themselves.
To all the young women I met in all those years that didn't make me feel like a freak.
To the ones who've done my make-up before parties, the ones who have told me when I don't match, the ones who think that putting a pair of sambas with a skirt is a completely ok fashion choice.
To the ones I've been in love with from afar and the ones I've been in love with up close.
To all the women who have come before and let me be the one that I am.

To Allie who adopted me when I went to camp. To Alexa and Creal and all the leaders I had that recognized I was a hell of a lot stronger than I thought I could be.
To the girl in my math class who I never stood up for when Alicia said something mean, and to Alicia who died 2 years after that.

To the women I will meet, to the ones I will love.
To the women who make me laugh so hard I cry.

Y'all are fucking great.