growing up, my old sister, my younger brother and i were unintentionally given labels that have since played a role in prescribing our maturity into adulthood.
erica, my older sister came out of the womb knowing she was going to be a doctor, and she has never veered from that direction. "the proud child" -- the child the parents are most proud of -- was serious about her studies, serious about her friends, and serious about every decision she has made between 1st grade and today. for instance, to this day she's serious about not wearing red on test days because she failed a spelling test in kindergarten wearing a red shirt.
erica did a funny thing, though, when she hit her second year of medical school: she found the rebelliousness she lacked during her adolescence. she started aggressively highlighting her hair, she got her bellybutton pierced, and she began dating a kid quite a few years her minor who drank, smoked, gambled, didn't finish college, and was recently indicted for a dui. at the age of 28, she has since grown out of the phase -- and is dating a nice jewish boy too. although she did regress once when she called me from the chair of a tattoo parlor to make sure the jewish cemetery would overlook the half-inch pink heart she was getting engraved into her hip. still, erica remains the "pride" of the children -- carrying on the only profession that is considered acceptable to the rosenbaums.
she's also the card carrier of "most tiffany's jewelry," "most likely to worry," "most anxious," "biggest collector of crap" and "most high maintenance."
i was labeled "the smart child," after doing reasonably well on my sat's, breezing through high school taking time to study only when friends required me to help them pass a test, and graduating cum laude with membership to mu alpha theta and national honor society.
i was pleased with my title, writing my sister's personal statement to get into medical school (although i still can't write one for myself) and proving to her that there was really only one spelling of "second." being "second" in line, not "secound," was the same as the "second" in a minute ... although she's still convinced otherwise.
i proudly carried the title until my younger brother, josh, beat my sat score and graduated with more academic trophies and certificates than the handful i had accumulated. stripping me of my title, my brother was also the only one to go "ivy league" and although he has fought to maintain "the stupid child" label, he knows he's stuck as "the smart child." but he can keep "messiest chef," "weirdest hobbies," and "least likely of all the rosenbaum children to watch a football game."
[by the way, that's the real reason i'm going to business school and law school. a dual degree is the only way to recapture "the smart child" title.]
somewhere along the way, i think have been given "we-know-she's-going-to-succeed-we-just-have-no-idea-how," "she-just-graduated-phi-beat-kappa-suma-cum-laude-from-a-top-10-university-and-will-go-back-to-grad-school-in-a-year-so-we-have-really-no-idea-what-work-she's-doing-now-because-we-can't-remember-what-she-told-us," and "most-willing-to-put-up-with-family-bullshit." i'm also the "higher authority of jewish law" in my family. just because i don't eat pork or shellfish, they're convinced that i have g-d on speed dial. faulty logic.
to be honest, the only superlatives i ever earned outside my family were in youth group when i was donned "biggest flirt" and "biggest pervert" -- i'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive.
... at the very least, in my family, i'll always be "the favorite child."
Friday, August 19, 2005
sibling rivalry
Posted by: DBR @ 11:00 AM
I'm pleased and proud to report that you spelled SUMMA incorrectly. I was just starting to feel like an academic underacheiver...But now you're the one in secuond place.
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