One of the Boys

For as long as I can remember I've just been one of the boys. I was one of those little girls whose family thought she'd be permanently scarred for life because I was always climbing and falling out of trees and hopping fences. I stayed cut up, bruised, scraped and usually bleeding from some injury that resulted from an outdoor activity that I insisted on performing on pavement instead of in the grass where the worst thing I could get was a few green stains and dirt that could easily be washed away.

My great aunt told me once that I'd never be a super model with scars like that on my knees. I didn't much care because I really wanted to be a tennis player or invent my own sport at which only my best friend Mario and I were good. I wanted the tree house in the yard where no girls were allowed--except me of course. And although I spent hours carefully dressing, bathing and braiding the hair of every doll I owned, as soon as I hit the yard, I was a different child. You couldn't tell me that I could do something or go somewhere because I was a girl because there was absolutely nothing that I couldn't do. I didn't care if I got hurt or my hair got messed up as long as I was included in the fun.

Today, things have changed physically but the inside remains the same. I've wiped the dirt from my face, covered my scars with makeup and voluntarily wear dresses on occasion. However, I'm still more comfortable hanging with my guys. I trust them and, in a weird way, I depend on them during times when I feel like I can't depend on anyone else. They make me laugh, they've wiped my tears, they've protected me from less trustworthy men and they've given me the kind of advice that women can't because of how little we understand men.

If you ever have the privilege of walking into a club with me and you notice that I hug and kiss damn near every guy in there, please don't assume the worst. Know for a fact that I'm friends with almost each and every one of them and be as honored as I am just to be in their presence.

To all my boys, I love you and to all my girls who don't know what it's like to be one of the boys, I pity you because you'll never understand.