if I were a Turtle -- Part 2

Son #2 was finishing his supplemental essays for college admissions. The question was, "If you were to tell a story, what would the title of your life story be?". His answer, "I am a turtle".... OMG, no, change it, a turtle is slow, not what you want to convey for college applications.

However, I read the 100-200 word essay and he wrote about reaching his goals through a steady process. Not bad. He would always try his best, and not be lazy like the hare. ok. hope it works.

When we were in the Galapagos we saw the world's oldest turtle (George, I think). They now mark the turtles because they outlive humans and therefore can't really tell how old they are. Better record keeping now I guess, more scientific. We also went to the turtle farm and saw so many turtles, they move so slow its incredible.

Somehow I want another pet turtle, the kind you buy in Chinatown on the street. Only now, they've outlawed them due to salmonella/disease. I can remember the tickle on your hand when our pets walked in our hands.

One of my best turtle memories is a dinner in China where Gary screamed because there was a turtle claw in his soup. He put the bowl right back down and murmured something like "YUCK" I'm not eating that. Quiet I said, that's not nice to our hosts, to which he screamed, "it doesn't matter, they don't speak English anyway". So much for teaching our kids about culture. The moral of the story is that turtles touch our lives in so many different ways, never take a turtle for granted.