i remember

I remember when I was little.
I remember when I was the cheerleader type.
A follower of the "popular group."
Though I always knew I didn't fit in.
I was shy from the beginning.
Never thinking for myself and just blending in.

I remember when that all began to change.
I remember when I met my new group of friends.
Going from one extreme to the other,
I finally discovered what the word opinion meant.
I also discovered what had been growing in me from the start.
The sadness.
The hate.
Unmerciful depression.

I remember when my sister told me about a class in high school.
Something I knew nothing about but felt something pulling me towards it.
I remember the play I went to in second grade.
I remember how that foreign place became my home.
I remember my first friend I made in high school,
And the family that formed around it.
I remember how I was saved.
How I became real.
Became myself.
And no one ran away.

I remember the bad and the good.
I remember years ago and I remember yesterday.
I remember the feelings I had that night.
I remember the sun will come up tomorrow and i'll get to start over.

One day i''ll remember my senior year.
Looking back on something few people who walked these halls could understand.
I'll remember my first car.
My first kiss.
The night drives.
I'll remember it all.
All that made me who I am today,
And the beauty of growing up.