When I first became aware of my gender. (by Tom Collins)

I think when I realized that boys and girls were different is when I got the chicken pox.  My brother and I stayed with Ms. Silvia (who we always called Ms. Sillvy) and maybe two or three other sets of siblings stayed with Ms. Sillvy and we all got the chick pox together.  I could not have been older than four, but I remember taking communal oatmeal baths with all the girls in one tub and all the boys in another tub with Ms. Sillvy’s older daughter Ms. Tracy that worked with her.  Jimmy McIntosh was my little boyfriend and best friend at Ms. Sillvy’s and I could not understand why we could not endure these yucky oatmeal baths together.  It was then that Ms. Sillvy informed me that the reason we could not take a bath together was because he was a boy and I was a girl, and little boys and little girls aren’t supposed to take baths together, thus my new found awareness of my gender.