Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Guardianship and Fear of Fish

The other day, I was thinking that DF and I should probably figure out who will be the guardians of our boys if we were both to die unexpectedly. That's a depressing topic that I'd rather avoid, though, so instead I'll tell you a story from my own childhood!

I don't recall the details exactly, but when I was mid-elementary school-ish, my parents announced that, in the event of their unlikely demise, my sister and I would go live with some family friends who lived a couple hours away on the Oregon coast.

This news filled me with anxiety for a disproportionate amount of time. When I would think about this plan, I'd start to get unhappy. Why? Not because I'd be an orphan. Not because I'd have to leave all my friends are attend a new school. No, my worries were based on that basic necessity of life: eating.

See, I knew that the dad in this other family liked fishing. In fact, once when we were visiting them, they said something about having a freezer full of fish in the garage. At that time, I was a very picky eater and hated all forms of seafood. So the idea that I'd have to live with a family of fish-eaters really grossed me out. They were otherwise perfectly lovely people, but I just couldn't stomach the idea of dining on the contents of their freezer.

Fortunately for me, my parents did not die, so the guardianship plan never had to be activated. And I'm happy to report that as I grew up, I became a lot less picky about food. Now I like all kinds of seafood. I mean, why do you think I call myself Salmonista? My eight-year-old self would be shocked and disgusted to hear that my 30-year-old self discovered she liked mussels, which sparked a lengthy period of mussels obsession at happy hours.

Now that we're living so far inland, though, I'm rather wary of most seafood. I'll still eat shrimp or other things that were probably frozen. But no way am I eating any (Atlantic, barf-o) salmon here if I can help it. That's a treat reserved for when I visit the Northwest and can get the real wild stuff!

File under: NaBloPoMo Day 10

2 comments:

  1. Okay: please do tell... who is this family that you speak of?? Sounds familiar. Your boys are way too cute, by the way!

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    1. Hi "Unknown,"
      The mom in this family is my mom's friend from high school and college. They have 4 kids and live on the Oregon coast. I try to keep this blog fairly anonymous, so I won't say more than that or be publishing the family's name here. If we're friends on Facebook, send me a message and I'll be happy to reply!

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