This is Chapter 2 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith. Read Chapter 1 first.

Sex ed is rather straightforward when you’re home schooled.

As the oldest of six kids, I was the first to experience the “Passport to Purity” tradition. (As my mom always joked, I was the “guinea pig” of the family.) When I turned eleven, my mom took me on a special weekend getaway, just the two of us. We watched The Polar Express in the theaters, awestruck by the lifelike visuals. We stayed in our own hotel room.

And we spent long car rides listening to some very intriguing tapes about puberty and… human reproduction.

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This is Chapter 1 of my story about femininity, sexuality, and faith.

Since I was a young girl, I always felt something about me was different.

It wasn’t the fact that my personality, interests, and play style were unique among the girls I knew. Luckily, for the first decade of my life I had almost no exposure to the concept of gender roles. I never thought twice about my passion for digging in the dirt in search of worms, my unending itch for adventure, or my fascination with science and history.

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