erica is finally comfortable enough in her body to walk around naked in her apartment. sometimes the blinds are open and she doesn't care. she's on the second floor anyway. this is not the same erica that i remember. young erica was what people like to call a "late bloomer." like most sad insecure people, her habit of modesty was born out of shame. in junior high she came up with four different ways she could change out of her p.e. shirt without flashing skin. she just knew that some girl wold point and laugh and tell her that she belonged in the boys locker room.

let's talk about training bras. what the hell? what did she need to train her flat chest for? there was no training there. up-down-up-down-good-now-breathe-in. no. training bras were a device of mercy. flat chest? wear this. you'll fit in. later, when no ones looking you can stuff it and walk around like you're dolly parton. you see, having boobs was a permanent fashion trend. the ultimate assessory. the problem was you couldn't just go to your mom and beg for them, like they were the latest international news sweatshirt. you had to wait and pray to the boob fairy to shower you with favor. years came and went. no boobs. not even a sign of them. despite her mom's ample bazoom, young erica consoled herself nightly with all the "you can't force a rose to bloom" shit you can think of. it didn't help that her little sister started wearing a bra in fifth grade. it was enough to make her down-right bitter. well, the growth spurt finally happened as a junior...in high school, that's late teenage hood folks, then stopped. then happened again at 21 after she got married.

erica has long since stopped believing that another spurt might sneak up on her. but happy to say, she's long past hoping for another one. she's finally gotten past all the negative programming and started celebrating all the things she likes. come to find out there was a lot more to like than she even knew. and as for Jiggely, and Poof...she is glad to announce that they've become two sweet little friends. much love and thanks to jayc for hugging her inner teenager and making her outer woman always feel sexy.