This entry has more of my awareness of the larger world:

Thurs Nov. 9, 1989:

Dear Anne,

Guess what! The Berlin Wall is coming down! East Germans are now free to go as they please. My mom said that the wall was erected when she was just a little younger than me. Many poeple have died trying to cross it to get to capitalist West Berlin for almost thrity years. I feel sorry for anyone living in communist countries, like East Germany & the U.S.S.R. I know about the communistic government because I have been studying the Soviet Union for an oral report at school.

On Sally today, I saw 3 girls who were only 2 1/2 ft. tall. 2 were 9, and 1 was 11. One of the 9 yr. olds was mentally retarted. She was also adopted. I wonder what it would be like to be 2 1/2 feet tall and have a voice that sounded like that of a 3 year old. One thing's for sure, I wish I weren't quite so tall. 4'9" would be nice. Of course, I only want to be this height because I'm 12 years old. Well, I've got to go. I'm still a little sick, and I stayed home from school today. I could have gone, but I don't have my outline for my oral report, my Spanish vocabulary words haven't been memorized yet, and I don't kwno my spelling or spelling vocabulary words yet. well'p, bye.
Yours truly,
Anne.

Can you tell I was a bit scatterbrained? I even signed the wrong name to my diary entry. Oy, someone remind me never to let my daughter watch talk shows. There are better ways to learn about differences between people than that. At least it made me think, rather than make fun of what I saw.

At that age I was pretty tall, probably five feet even at least. And I was rather self-concious about it.