Freckles

It wasn't a distasteful goodbye. It wasn't sweet either. It was a rather numb and blind goodbye. The sort that ends with a 'talk to you soon,' but usually means a permanent change, whether or not talking is involved in the future.

I'm a blend of English-Germanic heritage, comprising of Scottish, Welsh, British, German, Swedish, Swiss, and a variety of zests that can only be guessed at. I'm rather proud of my genetics, as they afford me my dark cow-puckey green eyes as well as the funny brown spots all over my pale skin. Sure, it has made scholarship applications difficult, and a number of people have all sorts of preconceptions about my opinions just because I'm a dominantly pink-and-yellow hue. That doesn't mean that I regret the contributors to my DNA.

The book of family memoirs is full of strange stories, ranging from a who-knows-how-many-greats great uncle who was the only one to successfully steal the crown jewels of England from the tower of London, to an immigrant who came over on the Mayflower, to converts who gave much of what they had in order to join the Latter Day Saints. These and many more, including wet-backs, settlers, performers, geniuses, and unknowns. Each one of them trying to make their way as individuals in this world, many of them trying to improve the world in whatever small way they could.

But this isn't just one individual's heritage. This is the inheritance of the human race. No matter appearance, status, successes, failures, no matter any personal factor, we all share a rich legacy of survival, adaptation, and knowledge. We are constantly building on our past, and relying on each other.

In the end, it's not the freckles or the eye and skin color or the great things that have been done that distinguish who I am in this world. It's what I do to take my place in it, and to help everyone else in their place.

Visits Into the Woods (2008)