When I was a child, I did not wish to speak as a child. I wished for adulthood.
I may have had a lilting laugh, but I spoke and thought like a child shouldn't.

I wished for adulthood every day, for the horizon's beckoning light--the guarantees promised by windows and my family's opportunities--of a life worth living and getting all I both wanted and needed, and I did. By the time I had grown in stature I had already put away childish things.

I find great satisfaction in being an adult, and a woman.
I belong to no one, but others belong to me. I feel whole.