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A Nerd puts on his old glasses and Reviews his life
When I was in junior high I was self conscious about how ugly I was. When I mentioned this to my Mother she told me that Abraham Lincoln was a "homely" man. It didn't occur to me until just now that this seemed to confirm my worry. At the time I was surprised. I'd never thought of Lincoln as looking anything other than noble (whatever nobility looks like). I was already primed to admire Lincoln and as I looked at pictures of him I discovered to my amazement that Mom was right. Lincoln was probably the homeliest President we ever elected. He was depicted as a baboon in political cartoons of his own time. Recently some physicians have speculated that he suffered from Marfan's Syndrome a genetic disease which, among other things, exaggerates facial features. I was not at all put off by Mom's comment. Rather, I was quite pleased and began a life long identification with the sixteenth President. I was still a nerd. For now I'm putting in these recollections in a strictly random fashion. Sooner or later some order will emerge from the chaos. 1953 Baking with Nana 1955 First Wedding 1961 Butterfly Hunter 1665 Quintessential Nerd 1957 Christmas Hoping 1972 Campus Politician 1973 John Wilkes Welty |
