Tagged!

Thank you to J. K-C. at Our Incredible True Adventures for tagging me!! (This is the first time I've been tagged, and I have to admit to a little delight and a bit of that junior high feeling of being relieved to have been included .... )

Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book of 123 pages or more.
2. Open it to page 123.
3. Find the first 5 sentences and write them down.
4. Then invite 5 friends to do the same.

Now, books are one of my favorite things. And there's always a huge stack beside me ...

Truthfully, the nearest book to me was my French workbook for my language class. Boring! Then, believe it or not, the next two books I picked up didn't have 123 pages. John Steinbeck's The Red Pony (because I'm re-reading a lot of Steinbeck right now and this was a childhood favorite) is only 120 pages long. And Pema Chodron's Practicing Peace in Times of War (because I'm trying to figure out what to do with all of my rage about the current political situation and the state of our world) has only 105 pages.

The next one I grabbed did have 123 pages .... but you'll see why I just couldn't let those be the 5 sentences I chose. Judith Viorst's Necessary Losses, recommended by a friend, started off promising on page 123: "I think it might even be argued that we women are literally built for greater relatedness, for the female body is, after all, designed to make room for other human beings." .... Good start, I'm thinking babies, birth .... but the next sentence brought me to a screeching halt: "Anatomically we can accommodate a penis in our vagina." Full stop. Ok, technically it's true, but it's not really where I'm going with this blog. So I ditched that one.

The fifth book I picked up works. Secret Daughter: A Mixed Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away by June Cross. Five sentences from the top of page 123: "Hadn't I been calling him 'Uncle Paul' since I was four? Hadn't he taught me how to wash and brush my teeth, how to brown hamburger with onions, green peppers, and garlic - the New Orleans way? Hadn't he nitpicked my eating habits from the first day I came to Atlantic City? Hadn't we put up the Christmas tree together every year and taken it down every year the day after Epiphany? What did being a blood relative have to do with any of this?"

I'm happier leaving it on that note than on the penis note. What is being a blood relative all about? Why do I want to carry a child? What does it mean that my sweetie doesn't/isn't/won't? How do adoptive families, or lesbian parents, re-define family and confront assumptions about the importance of blood relations?

And now I'm tagging Amy & Melissa, Milk in the Batter, Notes from 2 Moms, Kim, and Merr.

What fun!