Thursday, July 20, 2006

The Apple May Fall Far From The Tree...

But...the the seeds are still the same

They say the apple never falls far from the tree. I always disagreed with that statement because I don’t look like most people in my family (except a few features here and there) and I have always considered myself the oddball black sheep that everyone looks at and thinks, “Did that girl come from my blood”?

I have always been the girl who never identified with my families great business skills, mathematical ability and the natural inclination to never get into any trouble. My parents are both successful business people and what everyone loves about me at my job is “my personality and smile.” My mom does my taxes and I cannot even grasp the idea of Quicken. My father is even keel and calm and I have enough energy to illuminate New York for a week. Don’t get me wrong; I happen to think I will be very successful as well. But, my strengths are nothing like my families’ strengths.

However, at certain times I have been shown some evidence that, while I may be the oddball in the family, there are some traits they did pass on to me.

The evidence

So, how did I get so interested in the body?

When I walked into my grandmothers house a couple of weeks ago I was greeted by my very beautiful grandmother who then proceeded to lift up her dress.

“Look at these glutes sweetie! Can you believe how tight they are for a woman turning 70!”?

“Wow Grandma, yeah you have a great body”

“I know,” she said still holding her dress up, showing her black lacy underwear, “Come on feel them, and I don’t even have cellulite”!



And my obsession with shopping?

Text message received by Mother on the day of the Nordstrom sale:

“Hi sweetie. I am running to the Nordies sale. Do you want me to pick you up any Hanky Panky Panties? I am not going to get much, probably just the one D&B bag.”

Five Hours Later

“Hi sweetie, I got four pairs of shoes and three handbags in honor of Nala.”

I text message back: “Ummmm, I thought Dad gave you a budget”?

She writes back: “He did. But, I am emotional.”



My openness to talk about butts, boobs, and penises anywhere and everywhere?

I am standing in my parents kitchen when my dad says, “Ya know I think Boris (my pug) has a penis complex.”

“HUH”?

“Well I feel bad for the guy, he has a small penis.”

I am sitting with my eight-year-old cousin watching a Britney Spears DVD.

“Rachel, look at that,” she says, “I can see her nipple”!



My obsession with reading?

All four walls of my parents three-car garage is lined floor to ceiling with books. I have three bookshelves in my apartment of books and four more at my parents’ house of books that would not fit here.



My love for music?

I walk into my parents house to the sounds of Creedance Cleerwater playing loudly in the background. My father is in the kitchen and I am not sure which I can hear louder…the CD or my father putting food in the microwave and singing at the top of his lungs, “Dowwwwnnnn onn the Cornerrrrrrr”

Don’t even get me started about when he sings “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.”

Every single time I visit my brother he hands me a stack of about 10 CDs and all he says is, “Here listen to these.”



So maybe my apple did fall far from the tree…but they at least passed on some of the flavor. Maybe I am not adopted after all.

So what traits and/or interests do you all think have been passed down to you from your family?

14 comments:

Slim said...

OMG!!! Your grandmother sounds like a hoot! We should all be so lucky as to have that personality (and the body to go with it) at seventy years of age. Doesn't fall far from the tree INDEED!

I got both my high level of compassion and my awful temper from my mother. My mother is a very caring woman who is nurturing and loving. She also has the ability to go postal when you really piss her off...so do I. Sometimes my tempers scares me. I'm not dangerous, but I may have a heart-attack someday. I've spent a good portion of my adult life trying to lighten-up...easier said than done.

Scott said...

Your family sounds fantastic. I love that your Father gives you CD's to check out. Very cool. And your granny... well I don't quite know what to say other than... cool lady.

Scott

Kathryn Craven said...

i swear that every damn thing about me is inherited. i'm the one who gets all the beautiful broken and half-finished pieces of pottery and fabrick and such from grandma. i also picked up her ability to giggle ad almost everything. i got critical thinking and any semblance of logic, driving fast non-procrastination and order from my father. from mom i got the procrastination, more giggling, quiet compassion, most of my professional identity, my looks and a whole lot more. don't know where the eyes came from.

minijonb said...

you have three bookshelves full of books, eh? where do you keep all your CDs???

i usually notice negative traits i've picked up from relatives and not the positive. here's one that's just funny: one of my uncles and I stick our tounges out of our mouths in a Michael Jordan-esque style when we are thinking hard about something.

Unknown said...

one grandmother: patience w/ small children

other g-ma: scrunched up nose when i am displeased

mom: underachiever mentality

dad: anal retentiveness

- your family sounds like more fun... do you want a sister?

Ike said...

So, let me see here... Your kid cousin is checking out nipples while grandma is showing you her hot body (her ass, in fact)... Dad lets Mom take advantage of him because of her emotions (thanks, Nala.. RIP).. If the apple really doesn't fall that far from the tree, we could actually be brother and sister.

Robert said...

LOL I had an aunt who had a mynah bird and she taught it every cuss word she could think of to shock people haha Irritation with slow traffic or things not going exactly as i want- definitely inherited from my mother. Bet your granny gets alot of action with those glutes LOL i can just see her taking you to a club getting out there on the floor and going COME ON RACHEL DROP IT LIKE ITS HAWT!!!!! or... THEY WANT MY HUMPS MY HUMPS MY HUMPS MY LOVELY OLD LADY LUMPS HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Steve said...

Great post Rach. Poor Boris, he gets outed on his masturbatory routine and now he gets called out for having a small unit. Hey, he's a small dog.

I got my love for food from my Mom. Both of my parents have always been very giving in nature and I think I picked that up well. Definitely got my Dad's sense of humor.

deepsat said...

another good post rach!! you have a great family and you have every trait of them in you... some are hidden.. waiting to be kindled!!

I have largely inherited the analytical & logical trait of my dad, who is an engineer! he was good in math & and so am i ;-)) my mom is a great cook (like every mom).. and i have 50% of that trait too ;-))

come to think of it.. i hav to probe deeper now !!! ;-))

Keshi said...

Nice one Rach :)

lol @n#pple and @p#nis!


**“Did that girl come from my blood”?

well I often think ppl in my family think that way too abt me cos Im different in many many ways. I look alot like my mum when she was young n sexy ;-) but apart from being a sensitive cry-baby just like her, Im so very different to her when it comes to other things..like music! Goshh my taste in music sets me apart from many family members. My sis listens to senti stuff while Im a rock music fan..Im much taller than both mum n sis and also I dun whinge...I get on with life no matter what. So the only things that have really being passed down to me by the Apple-tree is my looks :)

Keshi.

ManNMotion said...

Just stopped by for a second and had to LOL @ mom the emotional shopper

shpprgrl said...

I got lots from everybody...my dad's temper and obsessiveness, pretty much my mom's everything, one grandmother's love of lipstick, the other the love of red shoes...red purses and anything flashy and she was a girl power girl waaayyy before it was cool.

coffeygirlb said...

Great post Rachel. I think it's generational. I feel the same way about my parents...My mom, she has the greenest thumb ever and is a runner. Me. not so much. My dad, a banker. Me. not so much. We love these things about our parents probably because of and in spite of the fact that we are so different. And yeah, the shopping id DEFFINITELY generational!

Twisted DNA said...

Wow, you write quite well!