The very first time I saw Lake Michigan in the winter of 2006, it was frozen solid as far as my eyes could see. The true Texan that I am was screaming inside, “No, that can’t be right! A beach is meant to be walked on in bare feet with waves splashing against the lakeshore.” A beach covered by snow and a frozen Lake Michigan was not at all what I expected to see. That right there pretty much describes me but you must continue reading to find out how.

When I saw the daily prompt for today –

If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

I instantly knew that there was only one title that would do for my biography, “Expect the Unexpected” because I have spent my entire life not fitting into a mold of any kind (sometimes intentionally and other times not). Instead of spending hours telling you stories of how much of a rebel I have been over the decades of my life, I’ll just give you one example,

I am a Native American who spent the first 19 years of my life within the state of Texas, other than a once a year long bus ride to Monterey, Mexico to see my maternal grandparents for a week. One of my many steps out of my family’s box was to join the US Air Force where I met my hubby, a very white Midwesterner with bright red hair and the bluest eyes ever. That was 44 years ago when we crossed ethnicity lines that were not approved by some.

A few years later, we moved to Ohio with our young daughter, who looks a lot more like my hubby than me. People there would often conclude that I was the nanny and not her mom. It didn’t take long for us to move back to Texas and to a more multi-cultural environment.

Eventually, we ended up in Indiana. When we first moved here, some people assumed that this was a second marriage for both of us and that our daughter was my hubby’s daughter from another marriage. Nope, they could not have been more wrong. Anyway, our daughter is now an adult and married to a pastor from South Korea. They have blessed us with a wonderful granddaughter who has her dad’s beautiful Asian features but my hubby’s lighter skin color and light brown hair with red highlights.

It is amazing to me how genetics work. I used to think that none of me was showing up in my granddaughter. Now that she is three and her personality is becoming more apparent, I have to admit that she has inherited a bit of my rebellious streak. Thinking that I should warn my son-in-law that he’s got a tough road ahead and to expect the unexpected. My daughter does not need a warning since she knows me better than anyone else and understands what may lay ahead. Life is full of surprises and fun, isn’t it?

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All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heaven’s Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.

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Both photos on this post were taken from the same spot at the Indiana Dunes National Park but during different seasons – winter and summer.