I went to elementary school in Bayside, Queens.
During recess, all the boys played stick ball; I kinda don’t remember what the girls did. The fifth graders ran the schoolyard because they were the biggest kids in school, so the first day of fifth grade was kind of a big deal.
I didn’t get picked first (or second, or third); I got picked fourth, but I was so happy to be playing I didn’t care. At my first at bat as one of the big kids, I hit a home run. Over the fence, into an empty lot next to the school (which is obviously condos now) ball lost, game over.
Everyone was surprised, except for me.
I didn’t hit the most home runs that year, or the farthest, but I did hit the first. I remember thinking to myself: it doesn’t matter what other people think I can or can’t do. I was ten years old, and I’d realized not to allow anyone to impose restrictions on what I could achieve.
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