chronicles of a chunk: I

once upon a time....i was a chunk, although i never really realized i was a chubs until probably sometime in middle school. now that i think back, there were hints along the way that i had never pieced together. these are very vivid memories that i have that obviously played a big role in my little fat kid mind, because of all the memories i could have collected from my youth, these have stuck in my mind for a reason. i do, of course, have other fond memories of my childhood playing games, taking trips and such, but today's focus isn't about that.

one of my earliest memories that helped me to identify that i was "different" was a summer day when my cousins were all at my house to play. the day progressed and it was time for an afternoon treat. my mom bought a big tub of bonbons and pulled them out for everybody to try. but when the tub got within two inches of my hand she said "Regina, maybe you should have a popsicle instead." i didn't know the difference in caloric and sugar content at the time or what that would even mean, but today i could give you a pretty good estimate. all i knew from that interaction was that i was somehow different from all of my cousins and brother. for some reason they could eat a bonbon but i should eat a popsicle. i didn't get it. why not? i don't actually remember whether i ended up eating a popsicle or a bonbon that day. but what i do remember is feeling different. i didn't know that "different" meant chubby.

a similar story occurred a year or two after the last. my mom was driving my brother and a couple of cousins through Death Valley (DV=excruciatingly hot). it was so incredibly blazing hot that we sat in the car pantsless spraying our legs with a squirt bottle of water to cool off. thirsty and nearly dying of heat exhaustion, my mom stopped at a little diner that advertised they had cold watermelon. as we walked to our table i noticed the row of pies at eye level. when it came time to order i said that i wanted a slice of lemon cream pie. my mom exclaimed "what? you'd rather have pie than watermelon? it's so hot. we came here to cool off, not eat more!" i quickly corrected her saying "no, you're mistaken. not only do i want the pie, silly mom, i want both." well, those words didn't come out of my mouth quite like that, but you get the picture. if i remember right i happily got both the pie and the watermelon, which aided in my plump childhood.