It’s kind of the same for me and my
brothers. I grew up with three brothers: two older and one twin. And
actually, even my twin brother is technically an older brother because
he was born 9 minutes before me. And you all know that in family
hierarchy, that makes all the difference. People ask me all the time:
“What’s it like having a twin brother?” And I have to honestly answer:
“I don’t know. What’s it like not having a twin?” I’ve never known
anything else - it has always been this way. There are so many things
that define who I am that I have had no say over whatsoever:
Some of the things I had no control over:
I was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1958 to a parents of northern European heritage.
I have three brothers and no sisters.
I am the youngest in my family (by nine minutes as mentioned before)
I have a twin brother
I have blue eyes and started with blond hair although it changed to brown and now is going light again. : /
I am just under 6 feet tall (for years I was 6 feet tall but gravity gets you down after a while)
I have weighed between 155 and 160 from the time I was 16 and no matter how much or how little I eat, I have never varied.
I grew up in Saratoga and I went to kindergarten through college in Santa Clara Valley
I was raised in a Christian home and went to church every almost Sunday.
Sometimes
it almost seems unfair that so many things that I have had no control
over whatsoever have defined my life in such a powerful way. When I
travel overseas I am almost immediately picked out as being American
(except in Bulgaria where they think I’m Russian) and make lots of
judgements based on what they perceive an American is. Actually, I find
that it goes a lot better if I tell people I am Californian, rather than
American, as they seem to think that everyone in California is a movie
star or at least acquainted with someone who is. But since I am American
and have a US Passport (for which I did nothing to deserve other than
being born here) I can cross most borders without trouble and many
without even a visa.
All of these things define
me for better or for worse and there is not much I can do to change
them. But there are a few things I can do to define myself in ways that
perhaps are not obvious to others and yet I know about them. (Oh boy,
I’m about to give up a secret here…) Most people may not be aware of it
but I almost always wear a T-shirt under a button up shirt. OK, big
deal, your thinking. But, the T-shirts that I wear all have things
printed on them. Yeah, big deal again. But the things printed on them
mean something to me and I select them depending on my mood or what I
expect for a particular day. For instance, today, when my boss was
retiring after 33 years and I was feeling a little old, I wore my “Old
Fort Jackson” shirt. If I am going to a conference or a scientific
gathering I will wear my glow in the dark Albert Einstein shirt. If I am
going somewhere fun I can wear my “Still plays with trains” shirt. And
if I am heading out on a trip I usually wear my “Vancouver, BC, Canada”
shirt with a BC flag on it. If they don’t like Americans I can always
pose as a Canadian, eh?
There is one other
thing that defines my life today which is not necessarily obvious for
the outside but I hope becomes obvious once you get to know me and for
which I made a conscious decision:
Just before starting 8th
grade I heard God calling me and decided to return to church. I accepted
Jesus and made a choice to follow him. After that, I looked the same
but was completely different on the inside. And today that decision
defines me and permeates everything I do.
This Friday
I would like each person to bring something, a physical object, that
says something about themselves. Something that illustrates either who
you are or how you are perceived.
I hope to see you Friday and find out a little more about you!
Best regards,
Duane
When:
7:15pm on Friday, January 29
Where:
Grace Community Covenant Church
Foothill Covenant Church
1555 Oak Avenue
Los Altos, CA 94024
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