The gene pool

I come from a large extended family and one of the things I learned early on was that everyone had something to teach me.

My mother taught me to empathize with very young children and that girls are disposable after maturity. My father taught me to indulge my curiosity and continue to love learning for the sake of learning.

My grandmother showed me that working can be martyrdom at its best. You can escape anything and sound like a saint as long as you say, I have to work.

My brothers showed me the beauty of nature in different ways. One by striving to perfect it and the other by celebrating its wildness. They also taught me that when other people go fishing, I should read a book.

My sister taught me not to be passive aggressive and her daughter taught me that a life really can be centered around trying to scam the world.

My godmother told me to always keep a nightie under my pillow in case of fire.

We all have our own ways and means and some of them are meaner than others, but the trick seems to be to skim the top off of each one and keep on swimming.