I'm special why?

For my ASL class this summer, each student had to put together a presentation with certain elements about ourselves. One of the required elements was a slide naming one reason why we are special or unique. As I was putting together my PowerPoint, I realized I was having a hard time narrowing my specialness to just one reason. Then I wondered how many reasons I could come up with for why I'm special. Here, off the top of my head, is what I thought of (excuse the ME ME ME-ness of this post - or don't, because isn't that what blogs are really all about?):

1. I was homeschooled my entire life until I went to college.

2. I went to college in the fall just after turning seventeen in the summer. I could easily have gone when I was sixteen, since I basically did nothing my sixteenth year after taking the ACT and applying to college.

3. I had NEVER mowed a lawn until I was married and was helping my husband do his parents' yard work one weekend. I think this happened because I had three older siblings who mowed the lawn (when we had a big lawn) and a very task-oriented mother who took over the mowing of the lawn entirely when we had a small lawn.

4. I apparently could do the full splits when I was 3 years old. My mama said I surprised her visiting teacher, who thought I was broken or something.

5. I used to hate my first name. Now I love it - Ruth is a very unique first name! Ditto Nancy, Naomi, and Esther.

6. My name gets mistaken about 50% of the time I introduce myself to someone for the first time for Marie. Not just "I'm sorry," or "I didn't catch that," or "Anything starting with an R," but "Marie." I have no idea why. Do I pronounce "Ruth" weird? Do I use two syllables or something?

7. I have always hated what people refer to as "delicious, homemade, filling, wheat" bread. I will stuff myself on potatoes, but not bread.

8. I took karate for three years and ballet for three years. People thought I was too young to be taking karate (because I stayed for my siblings' later classes and took them too) and too old for ballet (because I was 14 and had to start with the beginners). I didn't care. Both karate and ballet were fun, challenging, and exhausting in their various ways. I would neither change nor repeat my experience with either.

9. I used to suck my index and middle fingers on my left hand when I was little and couldn't quit until I was . . . guesses in? Well, I actually don't remember, but it was somewhere around 10 or 11 (old enough that I would diiiiiiieeeeee if any of my friends knew). I used to suck them while I smelled my delicious old and worn-with-love Cabbage Patch doll, Nancy. It's how I imagine getting high would feel like. Because of my addiction to fingersucking combined with an overdose of doll-smelling, my index finger has now bent slightly backwards and my middle finger leans to the side, leaving a gap between my middle and ring fingers that makes me look like I'm Spock.

10. I used to be TERRIFIED of swimming lessons. This one's ironic because of how much I LOVE swimming now. I would hide under my bed, sob, fake illness, and throw up regularly before leaving to go to the pool. Everything about the experience - touching and being touched by strangers, being forced to interact with other kids who I was embarrassed and often outdone by, being scared of drowning, getting water in my nose and ears, etc. - was a nightmare. My life improved 1000% when my dad took over and taught me one-on-one how to swim in the early mornings.

11. I think I have always been a very sensitive and emotional child who cries easily, but oddly I never considered myself one. I thought of myself as tough and tomboyish, and somehow got the idea that tough people didn't cry or that people wouldn't like me if I cried. I often got angry when I cried because I felt I had lost control. Now I've sort of accepted that I am the equivalence of an emotional hurricane, and cry all the time for all sorts of reasons, including seeing someone do something cute, watching a cheesy inspirational sports movie, watching a simple movie from my childhood that I never really connected to emotionally as a child (Animated Heroes Classics Christopher Columbus, I am looking at you), and of course, watching Miss Potter. Always, always, watching Miss Potter.

12. This one may sound a little weird, but I get some kind of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy from water, essentially meaning I feel close to God when I am surrounded by, touching, or observing water. It soothes, calms, exhilarates, refreshes, inspires, focuses, cleanses, and energizes me to an extent that nothing else (except for maybe my love for Matthew) has ever done for me. I can sit in a pool or alone in the ocean or by a waterfall for hours and be content. I sometimes cry when I'm running or walking by the Provo River because it's so BEAUTIFUL.

13. I miss the humidity of the South. I really do. Having lived in both Utah and Georgia, I can confirm that both are hot, sweaty, and to some extent miserable places in the summer, but the Southern air still has this sort of wetness and deepness about it that I find refreshing and comforting.

14. I've been in love with the name "Matthew" ever since my freshman year. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I ended up marrying my Matthew.

15. I had a surprisingly vivid prompting on my first date with Matthew that we would end up getting married if I asked him to hold my hand. I had been nervously debating about whether or not to ask him to hold hands before the date, and I'm still convinced that it was that one moment that set us on the course to where we are now. Thank goodness he said yes!

16. When I was a kid I climbed a tree to rescue a stray gray cat that later became our first family cat, Kim. Kim turned me into a cat-lover, which I have proudly been ever since. She was killed by a passing vehicle and seeing and burying her mangled body was one of the most traumatizing and deeply moving experiences of my life. Hers was the first death that absolutely devastated me as a child.

17. I've never broken a bone in my body. The closest I came was probably when my grandpa slammed the door to our van on my thumb by accident. It hurt like crazy for a long time, but nothing was broken.

18. My experience with braces and orthodontists was basically filled with epic torture and suffering (due to #9, no doubt). I've had wires come loose and stab me in the cheeks more times than I can count, including during our move to Utah. I also have had to wear Headgear and a Herbtz appliance for several years to try to correct my bite. I had braces for probably five years, and it felt like an eternity. For this reason alone, I would NEVER EVER EVER choose to relive my childhood.

19. I used to put ketchup on EVERYTHING as a kid. I put it on corn, macaroni and cheese, fish, any kind of casserole, lima beans, potatoes, even once in soup. But when I was telling this to a friend (at about age 7 or 8), he casually dismissed my boasts by claiming that his little brother liked ketchup so much he put it in milk. I was so shocked and disgusted by this that I had no answer, and it has always stuck with me. I mean, how could you put ketchup in milk? I draw the line at milk.

20. I've never been one to want to learn something because I was afraid the cool kids would make fun of me for not knowing it. I was always just fine with not knowing or participating in any of the movies, sports, music, TV shows, or popular trends that my peers grew up with. I can only think of one exception, and it's a weird one - roller skating. I taught myself to roller skate at age 15 because I was so determined that people not think I was lame or dumb for not being able to go on a rink without embarrassing myself.

21. I am the widest-chested woman in my family, and I was incredibly embarrassed about it growing up. I always felt like I didn't fit in with my sisters and mother, and wished I was flat-chested and scrawny. To compensate I basically slumped over and hid my chest all the time - until I took ballet, that is, and discovered the beauty of posture. Now I've learned to appreciate my figure (sometimes using the Busty Girl Problems website to vent my annoyances) and even to consider it one of my most attractive assets - having a husband who compliments you all the time is a great help!

22. I've knocked myself out three times. The first two times involved me running into something (a fabric bolt, a door) and waking up immediately on the floor with a slight headache but no knowledge of any time passing, when it is obvious from the concerned people around me that time has indeed passed. The third time was at the dentist's, when they were taking pictures of my mouth and I suddenly was hit with a wave of dizziness. They think I locked my legs. All I remember is being alone with the photographer one second, then having to lie down, then opening my eyes the next second and seeing a lot of people, including my mother, looking at me nervously and trying to find food for me. I'd describe getting knocked out as a bizarre and even weirdly pleasurable experience - it gets you a lot of concern and attention, for one, and it's a relief to feel that you didn't experience any pain or even lose any time falling asleep while you were "out." I felt the same way when I woke up (with no recognition that any time had passed) after my wisdom teeth were taken out. Too bad you can't be knocked out for every painful physical experience in your life.

23. I read the Bible from cover to cover somewhere around the age of 9. It took me roughly a year. I don't think I've ever done that since, but I'd like to.

That's all that I can think of for now. Guess which one I chose for my presentation (yes, it's up there).