I’ll get to you in a minute. But please read on.
In the car on road trip through Mali, L1 and L2 talk about where their families descended from. Small talk ensues. Then…
J: I don’t really know anything about where I’m from.
L2 (gasp!): How could you not know your heritage?
Shocking! How could she not know? We live in an age where National Geographic’s Genographic Project will take anyone’s DNA and trace it back to Mesopotamia! An age where over 2 million microfiche and microfilms of genealogically relevant material are housed in—you guessed it—Salt Lake City! An age of Genealogy computer software and hundreds of Hereditary and Lineage organizations at our service!
Wasn’t every 5th grader was subjected to the same report about their heritage? I have vivid memories of being bored out of my mind on presentation day when I heard 22 versions of crossing on the Mayflower or living in a teepee. I was a teepee person. One-sixteenth, thank you very much. Yes, I know where one-sixteenth of me came from.
But all of these genetic thoughts didn’t start with J’s blasphemous comment. It was tonight’s scene with roommate-brother and S at Asian restaurant…
S: Cory, you have really white teeth.
C (smiles)
A: And really big lips. Where did those come from?
They are NOT part of our family tree.
So, Milkman. Can you explain some of the 15/16ths that are unaccounted for?
It would have made for a more interesting presentation for his classmates.
On his identity-confused behalf,
Amber
2 Comments
May 19, 2008 at 1:18 am
His big lips came from Mimi’s side of the family. Her brother, Bill (Uncle Bill) had big lips that look just like Corys. Of course, they could have come from dad’s side of the family……
May 19, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Mom, I thought you would come back with the logical reasoning that we never had a milkman. A Diet Coke man, maybe. Or the Mazzio’s guy. Either way, your denial is evident.