The Size of Memory

Once upon a time, you loved being big. Your bone-smuggling classmates reminded you daily, as though convinced your body would have changed overnight, that you looked like an NFL linebacker and what was bigger than that? You pictured yourself as Ted Johnson of the 1997 New England Patriots, number 52, and grin buffoonish, forcing chipmunk cheeks into hard balls that squinted your eyes and further reddened a flushed face. Ted Johnson was your favorite player because, one, he played on your hometown team, and, two, he had a neck like a science project volcano. What was better than that? Then.