6: The number of siblings I have. “How many more do your parents plan to have?”- a gross question I frequently got at the grocery store, at church, at the park as I juggled a sibling on one hip while another grabbed my hand. I was so tired of these questions and other’s life choices defining me that I was giddy to make it to college, anonymous and ready to recreate my life. A few days before classes started, the sophomores and juniors had a “get to you know” game with questions like “Who traveled the furthest to get here?” (it was Bible college, so a bunch of missionary kids tied.) “Who’s the youngest person here?” “How many kids are in your family?” Record player in my head comes to a screeching halt. I was supposed to be an unknown! Invisible! And now I have to go up and say I’m the oldest of 7 kids. (It didn’t occur to remain silent— that would be like lying!) I tied with another girl.
6: The number of months between our first kiss to “you may kiss the bride”.
10: The number of years between that day at the altar and the day we met our sweet girl.
1: One glorious, magical surprise baby. “You having anymore?” A common question. My typical response, “No, Emmylou is a our miracle!”. Most of the time people smile and move one. But there’s always that guy that can’t let it go. At the office there was another realtor, a jolly middle aged man insisting “More miracles can happen, keep the faith, you may conceive several more!” I appreciated his enthusiasm, but he kept insisting and going on! I gave him several chances for a graceful out, but finally I had the last word: “I do believe in the miraculous. But I had a hysterectomy shortly after she was born so….”
This is one of my favorites of yours! I love the themes of boundaries and dealing with expectations. I think the picture even serves to highlight what a personal thing family is, and how other people's comments and questions can get in the middle of our own reflections in a noisy way.