Paper 2! (B.A. 5) Rough Draft
Hannah Coursen
Thorn
4/19/09
Paper 2
I can still remember the smell of the chlorine overflowing into the dining room of the hotel. I can still hear the splashing of the waterfall. Most of all I can still remember the day I meet some of the most influential people to my identity. Knowing very little information about these people, but knowing enough to know that they are related to me in some way through someone.
Sitting and eating, just listening to the chatter of the grown-up’s talking. Pretending like I didn’t care looking around me like I was bored out of my mind didn’t bother them. My mother knew that’s how I took in the information. I was like an ADD sponge. I absorbed and heard everything around me, but you wouldn’t think that I was listing because of the constant movement that I made. After their conversation grew to a long and drown out halt, I got up out of my seat and walked over to the pool where I knew I would get their attention. My mother smiled at me knowing that I was gonna jump in. SPLASH!! I jumped in and got the whole deck of the pool wet. I looked over at them and they all started to smile. My mother told me to get out and go put some dry clothes on because Grandma and Granddad had a present for me.
On my way back to the hotel room I formed a wet trail of 6 year old foot prints behind me. Not really noticing or caring, I was thinking about what my mom said. She said Grandma and Granddad. But I already had 2 sets, my Mom’s and my Dad’s. Who are these people. I had never seen them before and I’m supposed to call them Grandma and Granddad. It sounded so awkward. I didn’t want to do it until I had a full explanation of what and who they were. So I got my dry clothes on and walked back to the table where everyone was sitting down and asked the question I didn’t want to ask the whole night. Who are you? They looked at my parents like what do we say.
My mom turned to me and said “do you remember me talking about David, your birthdad?”
Yeah of course I did I wasn’t stupid.
“Yes” I replied.”
These are his parents. Your birth grandparents. I sat there in wonder, trying to put this whole puzzle of the night together. It makes so much more sense now. Why didn’t they just explain this in the first place.
After, I got acquainted with this new part of the family they gave me a present. It was a small porcelain, blond hair, blued eyed doll. They said that they got these dolls made for every single one of their grandkids including me. I was just sitting in awe. They said it was made to look just like me. I was so excited. It made me feel like I was apart of their family, my family, I knew part of where I came form.
My Grandparent’s were my blood. I couldn’t remember a time before this that I had met someone of my own blood. Not that this had mattered a whole lot before, it was just an experience that I hadn’t remembered happening before. I was trying to put my thoughts into words after what they had told me, but I couldn’t it was just coming out all gargled. As the night drew on I was getting tired and all this thinking of where I had come from was wearing on me. I just lay in my granddad’s lap looking at the doll that they had got made because of me, having his arm’s wrapped around me in comfort and realization I fell asleep.
This is how the mysterious night of wondering to knowing ended. It ended in comfort, in question, but most of all in identity. Some of my identity was sitting here in front of me. Some of it wasn’t, but I had an idea. A 6 year olds idea, but an idea none the less.
