Now that's reasoning I can understand. You see, my people be big boned too. Yes, as you can see by the picture below, I come from some really "healthy" stock.
That's my mother's family at a gathering in the 1920s. Mother wasn't in the picture but that's her daddy (my "big Pa") third from the left on the back row and flanked by two of his big (as in age and size) sisters. The sister sitting second from the left never grew to the size of her other siblings (guess it does skip some of the family).
Forty years later, when I was just entering my teens, I could lay both my hands across one of my grandfather's hands. He and his sisters were all over 6 feet tall and held commanding presence when they entered the room. These attributes were helpful in Pa's profession as a lawman as he seldom felt the need to carry a weapon. His size, those large, strong hands, and that deep voice would usually suffice in bringing a prisoner into line. I remember Aunt Catherine, Pa's sister, catching me eating strawberries in her garden. The sound of her voice calling my name gave me a sense of kinship with the lawbreakers Pa brought in to the jail in Gallatin.
Whenever I'm up in front of a classroom of teenagers who have little interest in what I'm saying I try to channel that inner Big Pa that I know is somewhere inside my much shorter than 6 foot frame and take command. Haven't had to pull a weapon yet so maybe there is something there.
So far I have managed to keep the big boned heredity somewhat under control by staying busy, getting as much exercise as possible and eating my veggies every day. But everyday is a challenge because, as you now understand, My People Be Big Boned.
