I left this under good advice because her sister was kind.
One weekend when I was 12 years old my mother flew to West Palm Beach to see my cousin. I went to the bathroom and some some blood on the paper. I knew it was my period. I ran to my 16 year old sister and told her I thought I had gotten my period and was worried bc mom was away. She said no problem and that she’d take care of me. She gave me a pad. A little while later I described my cramps to her. Again, no problem for a seasoned teenage girl. She got me pamprin. I can still remember the daisy like imprint on the tablets. I was impressed that there was medicine just for this type of pain. Later when Advil became popular I was happy because it destigmatized having a period and all that goes with it. I was just taking a pill like an ordinary person would. While that was liberating, looking back it’s kind of sad that I felt that way. It probably has to do with period shaming. I was at once thrilled with Pamprin, and thrilled to be just normal with the use of Advil. That was that, and I was sad my mom wasn’t around to share that experience with me. I’m sure that nowadays with a lot more moms that travel for work, a lot more girls will be without their mothers when the time comes.
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