You know what's interesting about being the youngest of three sisters? Everything. But especially when you're spaced seven years apart, turning your childhood into a front-row seat to the greatest show on earth: Womanhood Through the Decades.
There I was, the baby sister, watching my older siblings navigate their teenage years like they were reading from different editions of the same book. Beautiful, smart, and most importantly (in my young mind), they had reached the holy grail of femininity – they could shave their legs and had their periods. Oh, the envy!
I was that kid – the one who couldn't leave well enough alone. During my covert bathroom operations, I'd pull out the tampon box like it was a sacred text, studying the instructions with the intensity of a scholar decoding ancient manuscripts. The diagrams might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. What goes where? How? WHY?
By the time my turn came to join the "women's club," I was practically bouncing with anticipation. Finally! People would take me seriously! Spoiler alert: all I got was some body odor and a healthy dose of teenage angst. Not exactly the glamorous transformation I had imagined.
Here's a mind-bending fact: women spend approximately seven years of their lives menstruating. Seven years – coincidentally the exact age gap between each of us sisters. It's like the universe has a sense of humor, right? But what's fascinating is how each of us experienced this milestone through completely different generational lenses. One sister's shame was another's pride, while confusion seemed to be the only constant companion.
It wasn't until I discovered Besti that I really sat down to reflect on my journey and had meaningful conversations with my sisters about theirs. Those discussions revealed how dramatically different our experiences were, highlighting just how crucial education, accessibility, and open dialogue are in reshaping the narrative around menstruation.
As we step into 2025, I'm filled with hope. Companies like Besti aren't just selling products; they're pioneering a new conversation about menstruation. One where future generations – including my daughter – won't have to decode tampon instructions in secret or feel shame about a natural process that connects women across time.
Here's to loving ourselves, our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters. Here's to celebrating our bodies and embracing our experiences with pride rather than shame. And here's to all the little sisters out there, eagerly waiting their turn to join a club that's becoming more empowering with each passing generation.
Because at the end of the day, maybe those seven-year gaps weren't just about age differences – they were about witnessing the evolution of how we talk about, deal with, and celebrate our bodies. And that's something worth passing down.
P.S for those of you wondering, my mom didn't plan it that way, just the way the universe intended.
