When Did You Get Your First Period?
I was age 11 and a half.
Where Were You When Your First Period Started?
I was at Grandma's house with my younger sister and brother for the day (Mom must have been shopping or something). I was surprised because, although we had had "the movie" at school, my older sister hadn't gotten her period yet (18 months older). I knew she would be mad that I hadn't stuck the natural order of things, she was very irritated when I needed a bra before she did. She even tried to pull rank and say I couldn't have one, but grandma squelched that, for modesty's sake (although it was going into the bra-less 1970's).
I was a little too embarrassed to ask grandma for supplies, since we were just there for the day. I wasn't sure whether she had gone through menopause yet and it might have had to require a drive to town to a store. When mom came to take us home, I told her and she got me all set up.
Lessons Learned
- Older sisters can't stop nature from making its own time line.
- The nuns at our Catholic school recognized that some girls have menarche quite early and they ensured we were educated about it from 3rd grade onwards, despite some parental objections.
- I am soooooo glad that menstrual supplies have evolved from the early 1970's. We had a few icky choices (sanitary belts you hooked the pads into, no self-adhering thin pads with wings, no variety of tampons.
