I was a child dark of hair, eyes and skin. My sister M. was as fair and blue-eyed as I was noir. My brother E. and another sister, S., were wholesomely brunette. When we would walk down the main street of the small town where we were born, people would point to us and ask of M. or me, "Which one is adopted?"
My father would biologically claim us all. Then he would take out pen and paper and make a sketch that deftly illustrated "Mendel's law" of heredity, of "brown" and "white" traits, "b" and "w." E. and S. combined "b" and "w." M. was "ww," and I -- he would nod at me -- was "bb." Given the hunting and fishing culture of the region, some people thought he was merrily referring to BB guns as well.
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