Me at 14

I have been following the stories about Roy Moore, the Senate candidate who is accused of sexual misconduct against girls as young as 14 when he was 32 or so. Today I read that women are sharing what they looked like at fourteen or what they were like at that age to illustrate just how outrageous this behavior is.

I won't share what I looked like at 14 because I hated my school photo that year. I had long shiny blond hair and wore little oval wire-framed glasses. I did not participate in sports. If not for PE, I would have been a straight A student. I babysat for spending money.

My parents divorced when I was twelve so I did not have a dad at home to guide me in the choices I made about boys. Fortunately, I was cautious and not attracted to fast guys. I remember thinking a guy from another town was cute. But when I heard the way he spoke about the girls, I was turned off. 

When I was 14 and my older sister was 16, we both had a crush on a guy in our brother's class. He was a lifeguard at the swimming pool. We didn't speak to him, just watched him surreptitiously. I had crushes on other boys but I was too shy to talk to them. I turned down the first guy who asked me to a dance.

I didn't date until I was a junior. My first steady boyfriend was only a year older than me.

When I think about how much older an 18-year old seemed when I was fourteen, it is unfathomable to me that a man in his thirties would even think of making sexual advances on a 14 year old. As a college student, I dated a guy who was 10 years older than me. But there is a vast difference in maturity between a 14 year old and a 21 year old.

It's disgusting and so wrong.

Random Thoughts Day #3