If Taylor Swift wasn’t eight when I was in high school I would have played her songs a million times on repeat (on a CD player of course). Instead my best friend Julie and I would sing every word to Wide Open Spaces & Cowboy Take Me Away on the way to soccer practice, football games and mixers – with our windows down and ponytails flying. She sounded just like the lead singer and I was ALWAYS completely off tune (not too much has changed). Whenever I hear Taylor Swift’s song “Fifteen” on Crazy Country it still awakens distant, memorable moments reminding me of all I didn’t know at fifteen:
That the wallflower in me would learn to dance
That time really would heal my broken heart
That God would put it back together and give me someone more amazing than I could have imagined
That I was made for so much more
That there is nothing special about giving yourself away
That everyone was too busy thinking about themselves to think bad thoughts about me
That while my plans wouldn’t come to be, God’s plans and dreams for me would
That out of the darkest ashes of my life was going to come something beautiful
That while I was a girl who didn’t know who she was, in Christ I would one day discover who I truly am.
What didn’t you know at fifteen?
-Allie
*This blog is dedicated to Julie & Kat, my best friends in high school. Here’s to Bellarmine mixers, lame parties, Pres drama, soccer, track and all the little moments in between. You know me in a way no one else does. You are beautiful inside and out. Love you both and always will.