Being a teenage girl is hard. Being a teenage girl who's taller than all of the boys (and all of the girls, and most of the teachers) is even harder. This I know from experience. I'm 6'2", and have been this tall since the 7th grade.
But being a super-tall teenage girl who happens to live in the White House? I can't even imagine how tough that is.
Mom grew up a generation before the author of that piece and while its doubtful anyone gave her hormone injections she did spend her entire life lying about her height. I'm 5'10" she'd say- tall, but safely below 6 feet, the boundary above which dwelt only freaks and misfits. And as with all family mythology, that's what I believed.
About a year before mom's death, the Wife and I visited her following a long hiatus.
Mom greeted me with a hug, and my first startled thought was "there is no fucking WAY she's 5'10"!"
She was well north of six feet, even after the erosion from long cycles of failed cancer treatments. I was dumbfounded, partially that she'd lie about it so blatantly for so long, partly that I'd never noticed. She was 5'11" for my entire life because....that's what she told me.
I guess that's the power, and the danger, of family.
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