My younger sister passed me up in height when I was in sixth grade. I never caught up. Today, she’s 5′9″ — a full six inches taller than I.

I have always wondered how it feels to be taller…not statically and for just a moment, as in using a step stool to reach something…but to be moving about life, doing dishes, cooking, running, walking,  or whatever, as a taller person.

The cheap sunglasses I bought recently gave me a false sense of “tallness.” They were pretty cool for dollar store sunglasses but I didn’t notice when I tried them on that I seemed taller than when I had entered the store.

Oooh, unexpected pleasures! I walked around the lake with the perception that I was a much taller person. This took some getting used to, the weird feeling of gaining six inches of height in a second. The effect is so obvious that I would expect a sticker on them: wearers of these  glasses feel taller than they actually are.

Strangely, I walked more confidently, took longer strides while relishing the feeling of added height. I didn’t literally have a better vantage point in my fake height than my normal, shortish stature, but no matter.

I liked being — er, feeling — as tall as my “little” sister. If only I had inherited the tall gene………

Oh, wait…if I were as tall as her, I would have no excuse for the  accumulation of dust on top of the fridge because I would then be able to see it.

Never mind. Being less than tall rocks!

© Alexa Lopez, 2009