I was at the outlet mall and
I was happy, even excited.
I was happy to see smiling faces,
bright eyed kids,
the elderly hand in hand.
I was happy.
Until my Mom and Sister decided to
rain on my parade and tell me that
I really need to get a grip on life,
to stop being so rude and
to be more Catholic and to
get better grades and to
lose more weight.
Like they said,
I should probably
start counting
calories.

Okay, sure,
no worries.
I'm not already constantly
thinking about sticking a
finger down my throat to
make me skinnier or
to stop eating all
together.

Nope,
why would I do
that?

I'm not saying I will,
but I'm not saying I
haven't.

I just wish they'd understand that
words get to me and
that maybe I'm not as strong as
they think I might be and that
what they say
stays in my mind
forever.

By the way,
I've lost about
6 pounds.

Yippie.