It was the year of the Birkenstocks, a peach-fuzz mustache, bleached hair, a deeper voice, and my uninvited friend “BO.”

It was the year I traveled by airplane without my parents, the year I drove in the driveway regularly, and the year I almost reached my mom’s height.

It was the year of Nike Dri-FIT compression shirts, hoodies in every color, and untamed curls.

It was the year I turned twelve.