Today we have a wonderful letter from an anonymous writer. We hope you’ll enjoy her
musings as she thinks back on her periods and how her body changed during menopause. Enjoy today’s post!

Hello lovely people of all ages,

It’s funny, but I actually have a lot of thoughts about my body and about the 66 years I have lived with it – and loved it – in spite of its various flaws.

I started my period when I was 12 years and 161 days old. Isn’t it odd that my daughters started their periods at almost the exact same ages? My older daughter was 12 years and 147 days old. My younger daughter was 12 years and 169 days old. I think this tells us that genetics plays a part in our lives, and that your mom’s physical trajectory might have bearing on your own. After I had my first child, at the age of 24, I started to have very, very heavy periods. Indeed, sometimes I became anemic and needed to take medication. And of course, it was a very big mess. By the time I gave birth to my third and final child, my doctors were after me to have a hysterectomy, but I felt that my female body parts were very special. They were what allowed me to experience the amazing miracles of pregnancy and childbirth. They were what allowed me to have my three wonderful children. And so, I was very reluctant to give them up. Thus, I chose to just deal with the very, very heavy periods until I reached menopause. Though I support others in making a different decision in a similar situation, I am grateful for making it to that finish line with all my female parts intact!

Reaching menopause was interesting for me. Menopause is evidently defined as going 12
months without a period. I was at the 11-month mark when I happened to take a vacation to Florida with my daughters. Oddly, both of them had their periods, and between their flowing vibes and the pull of the ocean’s tide, I got a period too! So, it was another full year until I reached menopause, at age 52.

I was very lucky in reaching menopause. I had exactly one hot flash and that was it! Meanwhile, that acne that I struggled with over the years magically went away 100% as soon as all those hormones stopped flowing through me. (I must comment for young women reading this: doctors have wonderful medicines to help with acne so if you suffer from that, help is near. Seek it out, please! There is no need to suffer silently!!)

Back at the start of this letter I said that I love my body in spite of its various flaws. I have
already mentioned one flaw, that terrible heavy bleeding I experienced for years. Another one worthy of mention is that I have always been saddened regarding the topic of boobs. God gave me many wonderful gifts in life, but big boobs are not one of them. My boobs aren’t even moderately sized. A very unkind man once described them as “mosquito bites.” Ouch! I considered allowing a doctor to surgically change that for me but decided against it, reasoning that this is the way God made me and God doesn’t make junk. Meanwhile, my breasts performed well for their intended use, they did a fabulous job of nursing all of my babies! Still, we live in a breast obsessed society so being small-boobed is a challenge, a challenge that has made me a strong person and a compassionate person.

I’ll close by saying that I often joke about the Declaration of Independence which famously
states that “all men are created equal.” Politically speaking, of course this is true. Speaking of our physical bodies, of course it is not. Instead, we are all different! Instead, we are all beautiful just the way we are! I invite you to look in the mirror and love who you see!

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Looking for more resources on menopause? Check out these posts here.

Until next time! 

Be well, 

Tara & the Be Prepared Period team