Feisty (adj.): full of animation, energy, or courage; spirited; spunky

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been called ‘feisty’. Maybe it’s because when I was a kid, I wasn’t supposed to be taller than 5’ (talk about short) and I had to compensate for my lack of height.

As a kid, I played with the boys and let’s just say when the boys on my co-ed basketball team wouldn’t pass the girls the ball, I made it a point to jump on one of their backs as my friend swiftly pulled the ball away. No regrets, absolutely none at all. I hope somewhere, someplace, that guy is still telling that story today. My hometown best friend, Kristen, can surely attest to when I was about 7-years-old and I slapped a boy. What can I say, the boy pushed my best friend to the ground during a playful game of SPUD (if you don’t remember SPUD, you were deprived as a child) and I slapped him straight across the face. Laughing till tears fell, I remember running away with Kristen and feeling proud that I stuck up for my friend, even if that meant a firm slap. Oh well.

Although I’ve managed to grow up to be a whopping 5’3”, I’m still considered to be ‘petite’ and ‘feisty’ is still one of my favorite characteristics. Being feisty and well, stubborn at times, is a trait that I can thank my mom for acquiring. She was one feisty Sicilian lady, who could outdrink the guys, steal her mom’s car with her girl friends, get away with dating college guys while she was in high school and didn’t take sh*t from anyone. As I’ve gotten older, I’m proud of my feisty-ness, it keeps people from walking all over me (‘I might be short, but I sure am feisty’ was definitely a signature line I used as a 6-year-old) and it’s a trait I wouldn’t trade. 

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No matter what you might be called, embrace it. Sometimes it just might be a part of you that you just couldn’t live without.