simpler
double helix untangle: part three (of three)
I dream of hot tea and drowsy dogs. Of sunshine and gentle breezes, movement ease, restful sleep.
I envision a world where equality, liberty and privacy is assured. Where children are safe. Where bears are a woman’s second choice.
I am roughly four weeks from my 60th birthday and my priorities are clearer than ever before. My resolve and expectations are sharper. My gratitude is simpler.
I am grateful for pants with elastic waistbands and shirts with loose sleeves (see future post highlighting broken wrist). I am grateful for the automatic transmission in my Jeep Wrangler.
I am grateful for my siblings (pictured) and for our time together.
We all have the Heinsman nose.
My sister and I have nearly the same voice, yet somehow hers is bossier. My brother and I do what she says.
We represent a mixture of DNA passed down to us from our parents … yep, this is the official announcement … we’re siblings. As my sister had predicted, the 23andMe algorithm refreshed our family relationships when our tests were recently run.
Being together yesterday was healing and wonderful. We laughed about our Neanderthal characteristics among other amusing commonalities.
This flurry of DNA lookups started around two months ago when I wanted to show I’m more French than my brother (I am). Our sister’s percentage of French DNA wins, though.
Emotionally, we all won. The tests returned exactly the result we were hoping to see:
Our parents are our parents;
Our siblings are our siblings; and
Our cousins are our cousins.
My sister was my first call (our usual) when I saw the result on my phone. The cousin chat was lively yet uneventful. We were happy to be us and relieved that no further discussion with our parents would be needed on the subject.
Simpler.
So much simpler.
I am grateful.
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P.S. As I was packing up stuff to load in my Jeep after the family gathering on Saturday, I overheard our mother on the front porch telling someone that our biological father is actually Elvis. I kept walking.