We Were Told to Be Quiet

I grew up having to wear pretty dresses, gloves, hats and frills, not all the time but enough to have a visual imprint in my mind. There were expectations for girls like me... my generation, seen but not heard. I wanted to scream, play, be visible, vibrant, get dirty. I should be a cowgirl, not a ballerina. In spite of challenges, I had a full life. As I grew older, I had the notion of not being seen anymore. It was a feeling, accurate or imagined — at times rational, sometimes not. We feel we become invisible to many people. But we can reimagine.