Then...
- 17 years old
- Ventura, California
Now...
- 52 years old
- Chanhassen, Minnesota
My Story...
The black and white photo was taken in 1978, my junior year of high school. I was taking a photography class, and we all had to sit for a portrait-style shot. If you zoom in, you may be able to see that there’s a safety pin holding my glasses together! Yes, I was just that nerdy!
I did get a fair amount of teasing from a handful of boys in junior high due to being overweight. I can’t say that I did anything outright to deal with it at the time, other than just endure it.
My experience in college was really affirming, as I was accepted and affirmed by my peers in many ways. Amazing how a few years helps even the playing field as immature people catch up to those of us who are mature beyond our years!
It took many years of growing more deeply in love with Jesus Christ before I was able to embody the beauty I was created to display. I did not date until I met the loving yet nerdy man who would become my husband when I was 32 years old! I was able to begin embracing my beauty with the help of a counselor, whom I was seeing for other personal issues. And of course the love and affirmation I received in my 30s and 40s from my husband brought even deeper healing.
My husband passed away from colon cancer two years ago, and I have recently re-entered the dating scene. I would so love to travel back in time and reassure my nerdy high school self of her value and intrinsic beauty, both inside and out. And while I was time-traveling, I would also warn the guys who didn’t give me a second glance back then that someday when they are in their 50’s — divorced, balding and paunchy — they will be overjoyed to find a woman like me to date, assuming they have outgrown their superficiality and become more beautiful inside themselves.
Although I am still overweight, I have lost 60 pounds in the past three years, and feel I am finally on my way to winning that battle. I have a before-and-after photo of my weight loss too, but that is a matter for some other blog.