Not intended to be cruel.

I was watching TLC - The Learning Channel - last night.  I learn so much, like what not to wear, a home improvement project's value, how I should parent, the dynamics in a tattoo parlor, that no matter what our families look like in size or shape, we're all the same [screeeeeech]...

After watching TLC last night I was reminded of things for which I am thankful, that I am not.

1.  A Feral Child - Tarzan and Mowgli romanticize the notion of wild children.  As a kid it was adventurous and *fun* to think about living in the forest with bears, wolves or monkeys who loved and protected me.  I would have been Tarzan's Jane right after Michael Jackson's wife.  (Both fictional scenarios, little did I know.)  TLC has educated me.

2.  A Little Person - Because I loved The Wizard of Oz and hoped to live in Munchkinland someday, and my favorite aunt was extremely petite, I wanted to stop growing at the age of 8.  I desired to be a very small person.  The Roloff family amazes me.  I don't even see Matt Roloff as a Little Person - anymore.  He has that thick head of hair, a handsome, raspy voice, and a fine, fine, mind.  He's very appealing.  Watching them prepare for a trip, get in and out of cars, accomplish daily tasks we take for granted, move around their large property...  Again, TLC has educated me.

3.  A 750 pound Man - I was thankful I wasn't a 750 pound man before I watched TLC.

4.  A Conjoined Twin -  Forgive me.  I literally have had nightmares about this since I was a child.  I saw two women conjoined at the tops of their heads on The Phil Donahue Show my mother was watching when I was very young.  I'd never heard of two people being physically connected.  I thought their necks must be killing them.  Man.  They seemed relatively happy and if I remember correctly, they even had "relations" with men somehow.  On a serious note, it's miraculous when surgeons successfully separate conjoined twins.  If I however, was stuck to my sibling, I'd smack her all day long.  "Get off!"  TLC didn't educate me about the realities of this condition, but it reminded me to be grateful for my oneness.

I don't watch much television.  A little channel surfing during unwind time at night in bed, feels good.  If I'm watching a brainless, stupid humor show when Chris joins me in our room, he says, "What?  No surgeries, unsolved murders, tragic human conditions for us to watch?  You know how that puts me in the mood..."