Dear nose, first of all as Kris Kardashian would say, “you’re doing amazing, sweetie.” You have one main purpose, smelling, at which you’re doing a wonderful job! However, I have detested you because I think you’re too big. You are a little bit bigger at the bridge and don’t upturn at the end, like the perfect, little nose I’ve always wanted.
My mother has always called you the “perfect storm” of DNA. My father’s side is Russian/Jewish and my mother’s side is Italian. Both of these ethnicities tend to have larger noses. Truthfully, you’re not that big, but you’re not the nose that I see on tv or in the magazines.Â
For the majority of my middle school years, I longed for rhinoplasty. I would watch before and after videos and just imagine you getting the perfect fix. I read books about rhinoplasty hoping that the book character would maybe become a queen after her nose job or something else magical. I tried on the Snapchat and Instagram filters and would see what you would look like if you were just smaller. For a while there, I even tried contouring you to make you look slimmer. Contouring is very difficult so that phase didn’t last very long.Â
 For a long time I fell for all the “beautiful” filters. I truly believed that fixing you would fix all of my insecurities. After years of lamenting over the fact that you’re the “world’s biggest nose”, I realized that a nose job wouldn’t be the ultimate fix. I would always find something else to dislike about myself. I also realized that I am made just the way that I need to be made.
So nose, loving you is a journey that I am still on and will probably always be on that rocky road. I am finally starting to learn that you look the way you look for a reason. I have generations of families that have proudly worn their noses, just the way they are. Through learning to love you, I have learned more about my family history. I have done research on my ethnicities because I wanted to know more about why my DNA made you look “so big”. While it feels hard to accept your size and be proud, it’s something I’m working towards.