Last week, I was talking to a student who was worried how much I was going to focus on grammar in her paper. Another student, hearing the conversation, jokingly pointed out that, since I wasn't an English teacher, I probably wouldn't focus as much as I might if I were an English teacher.
I found myself saying, automatically, that my mom was an English Professor, so I might notice grammar more than they realized.
I didn't stop and explain, or hedge, or hem and haw. I just identified my mom as an English Professor. I didn't bother explaining that I was talking about my first mom, not my adoptive mom. I just talked about my mom, to people who have no idea how major a step that sort of off-the-cuff comment truly was. To simply own my own parentage. To own my origins in such a natural, automatic way.
In a different situation, I might remark that my mom's a nurse. Indeed, I'm certain I have done that. (I'm talking about my adoptive mom, now.) So to be able to casually talk about my first mom in that same way... Well, I spent the rest of the afternoon smiling about that.
It's a little thing, I suppose. But it's huge in my own story.
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