Reputations

I live in a small community in a small city in a really small state.  I grew up in Vermont and while I could appreciate the beauty of the place, I often felt stifled by its provinciality.  As a result, I decided to go to college 600 miles from home and travel the world upon graduation.  When I returned to the United States a year and a half later, I moved to Boston.  The big city suited me and I was downright miserable when marriage called me to Providence.  At the time, it made sense for me to make the move instead of my husband but I still resented that ALL my friends lived someplace else.  It was hard going from having a really active social life to having my husband be my only available friend.   

Motherhood changed all that.  Not only was Vivi a joy to be around but her very existance led to a blossoming social life for me.  I met other mothers at libraries and parks, breastfeeding support groups and grocery stores.  This is the beauty of living in a small community in a small city-- you tend to see the same people over and over again.  While that can be annoying for people who enjoy their anonymity, I found the familiarity comforting.

When we discovered our two babies, it was late November.  The weather had turned chilly and we weren't making it to the park as frequently.  I knew a couple of other women from our neighborhood whose babies were due around the same time but I never managed to see them to tell them about my bonus baby.  There were so many people that I thought never knew I had two babies cooking.  How could they?  New Englanders tend to hibernate in the cold months and I certainly wasn't venturing out if I could help it.  I saw my very close friends regularly and that was it.

I delivered my Turtles on March 6th.  I was on midwife-imposed house arrest for the week following but I was out the door with two babies wrapped to my chest within ten days.  The first warm, sunny day in March can make a woman do crazy things and I was desperate to get out of the house.  When I arrived at the park, I saw a young woman who I didn't know.  I recognized her accent and asked if she was from Turkey.  She was and we chatted a bit.  Within moments, she said to me,  "I've heard about you!  You're the woman who discovered her twins very late and then had them at home." 

Ummm, yeah.  So apparently these twins have given me a reputation.  I never quite figured out how the Turkish woman knew all that.  I doubt she was reading this blog but that made me wonder, if you are local and you read this, can you reveal yourself?  That way I don't have to wonder why you know my daughter loves poop jokes when I run into you at the park.