Hay Fever & Heritage Thoughts

I spent today in a Benadryl hangover--a totally real thing that happens the day after you take Benadryl--so I'm even more daydreamy than normal. I try to stay away from pharmaceuticals as much as possible, but my garbage can overflowing with snot-filled tissues and the bags under my eyes convinced me to say yes to drugs. I sneezed 97% less today (super scientific statistic) than I have all week, and my eye bags are more lavender than deep purple. Trade offs.

In any case, I don't know if it's the Benadryl haze, this gorgeous last week of summer, or just that I haven't finished with something until I've over-analyzed it, but I'm still thinking about the surveys Jesus and I did for Monday and yesterday.

Mostly I'm thinking about how differently we answered the questions. More specifically, I'm thinking about how Jesus never once mentioned his hair, eyes, or skin--the first three indicators I gave for my heritage and what I would consider some of the most obvious indicators for his. I also talked about food more than he did, which I didn't expect. (Although both of our families eat way more than just "traditional" foods, our childhood experiences with rice and beans couldn't be more different. In my family, rice is eaten with sugar and milk. And beans just means Bush's Baked.)

When it comes down to it, though, the way our families are similar or different has less to do with where our ancestors are from and more to do with how Crespos do things compared to how Kaisers do things. (Not to mention things like sibling order, hometown, hometown population, or hometown population as a ratio of people to cows.) If my own parents discussed their heritage/childhood, they'd appear similar: German-American, Catholic, rural. And still I have traits that are clearly Rachu or Kaiser.

Maybe this next month is for celebrating German or Hispanic heritages specifically, but the definition of heritage doesn't necessarily include race or ethnicity. It just means "things passed down"--whether that be traditions or objects. In that regard, Jesus and I will both celebrate by being grateful for the things passed down to us, especially snarky wit and strong wills. (In simpler terms, thanks for making us stubborn smart asses Moms and Dads!)