I am "Special"

Going through the "STUFF" I found the Texas tea spoon. Being an air force brat meant we moved every 3 years. I never had a place I could ever tell someone I was from. You get the question Where are you from? What do you say? My parents were born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, my grandparents were from Scotland, and I was born in Texas then moved to Hawaii at 6 months. I leaned to talk while in Hawaii so I guess you could say I was from there. NOT! Some friends of my parents were from Baton Rouge, LA and they had a young daughter. I must have spent a lot of time with that family because I spoke with a southern accent, so I was told over and over. It was so different and with 5 kids in the family - no one but me had that accent. I remember being told I was different - they (my whole family) told everyone they could - what was wrong with me. How? Why? When they told anyone I was born in TX they would respond "well no wonder she has a southern accent". I wanted to be part of my family but was always set aside as different. When Dad was assigned to Keesler AFB, MS I thought now I will sound like everyone else. Southerners now made fun of me for being from somewhere else. What the Freak!! Even in the south I was not from this part of the country either. I have been made fun of all and I mean all my life whenever I talked to anyone. North made fun of my southern accent. South made fun of my whatever accent. And Kansas people made fun of me and my daughter for having a southern accent. When they started in on my daughter the fangs came out. No one and I mean no one was going to make fun of my child. Like I could really stop them.

So just where am I going with all of this? The spoon. That crazy spoon my father, (which is what I called him and that is northern) not daddy (which is southern), brought home that spoon from his trip to Texas was my identity. As a little girl I thought my father brought that home just for me (NOT). A foreign country that I was from. A place I wanted to go back to so that I could think I was normal. I always looked at that spoon and knew I was from a great place. It was the biggest state well until Alaska anyway. I was proud that is where I was from. That crazy Texas tea spoon gave me pride! A place to call home - Where I was from!!! I always wanted people to know I was born in Texas after that. I still did not want the accent but I had the spoon.

When my daughter moved to Texas I think I was kind of excited. She was going to my home state. hahahaha Now they made fun of our southern accent. I loved when we would go somewhere in Texas and someone would try and belittle me for being from MS with a southern accent. I would look at them and say "I am from Texas and was born in Texas". I loved the look on their faces when their chin would drop to the floor. I know I know that is revenge (MY BAD).

Finding that spoon this week in all the stuff was so much fun. It gave me such joy. I have the memory "That is where I am from and my father bought that spoon just for me because I am special".