“I’ve got my clipboard, text books
Lead me to the station
Yeah, I’m off to the civil war
I’ve got my kit bag, my heavy boots
I’m runnin’ in the rain
Gonna run till my feet are raw…
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
And I’m a soldier at thirteen
Slip kid, slip kid, realization
There’s no easy way to be free
No easy way to be free
It’s a hard, hard world
I left my doctor’s prescription bungalow behind me
I left the door ajar
I left my vacuum flask
Full of hot tea and sugar
Left the keys right in my car
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
Only half way up the tree
Slip kid, slip kid, I’m a relation
I’m a soldier at sixty-three
No easy way to be free
Slip kid, slip kid
Keep away old man, you won’t fool me
You and your history won’t rule me
You might have been a fighter, but admit you failed
I’m not affected by your blackmail
You won’t blackmail me
I’ve got my clipboard, text books
Lead me to the station
Yeah, I’m off to the civil war
I’ve got my kit bag, my heavy boots
I’m runnin’ in the rain
Gonna run till my feet are raw
Slip kid, slip kid, slip out of trouble
Slip over here and set me free
Slip kid, slip kid, second generation
You’re slid’ down the hill like me
No easy way to be free…”
I have purchased a home DNA kit and I have spit into the spit kit as instructed and returned it via US Post Office to Californ-I-AY. In two to three weeks I will know how much I am of each piece of what I am. I will know genetic markers for predispositions to disease, and I will be able to provide Boo’s doctors with important genealogical information they all say they wish they had. It also will be able identify blood relationships if they are 1st cousin or closer.
I’m thinking who do they have DNA on? Then I realized: Famous dead people and criminals, and the handful of people like me who have done this DNA test. I seriously doubt Laura Ingalls Wilder and me, born 102 years apart, are first cousins. But I could, sadly, be Jeffrey Dahmer’s cousin. Or Snooki’s, which is almost as bad.
Pandora’s Box, I know. I know.
Going to see Boo this morning at my mom’s house; Andy is driving him up. My mom’s next door neighbor said we could use their pool so it should be awesome. Beautiful day. I’m drinking coffee and playing records on my new little turntable M bought me the other day as a surprise.
I listened to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 (I always liked the “Rach 3” better, but #2 was Gina’s favorite and so I listen to it a lot). I can be with her when I listen to it. It’s been almost ten years since she killed herself and I have yet to find anyone who looks so forward to the Philadelphia Orchestra coming to SPAC as me. Maybe my friend Dimma is close.
Under the stars with wine and cheese on a soft lawn with quiet folks and a gentle breeze to the warmed-up evening. A half-circle half-outdoor amphitheater. Inside is great too. Gina and I once finagled front row seats to an Itzhak Perlman (the famous Israeli violinist) performance. He has polio and must sit for his performances, which brought him even closer to us. My God I tell you it was like being wrapped up in something so wonderful we could hardly breathe.
Oh Gina. Maybe I’m related to YOU! Do they have your DNA? Do they take some when you die? I tried to watch a layman’s cartoon lesson on DNA strands and chromosomes etc. but I don’t even have the foundation of basic knowledge on which to build any understanding of it all. Obviously I skipped chemistry and physics in favor of a creative writing class.
10 HOURS WENT BY
…and it is late evening. Oh how Boo loved swimming in the pool today! He was a happy, playful, lovey boy and we had a wonderful visit. I will leave you with some pictures:
The Never Normal 
What delightful pictures! Jonah so obviously l-o-v-e-s being in water. And his mom must love sharing his enjoyment and snapping photos of him in his beloved water. Congratulations on the DNA kit. How lucky we are to live in a time when spitting into a kit and mailing it off results in information that assists medical professionals who treat our children. Amazing!
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