I’ve said many times that I have little in common with the folks I share DNA with. Certainly not looks or politics. Definitely not temperament or taste in music. I cannot remember what my sister and I talked about before she had kids- 95% of our conversations now seem to revolve around those two goofballs. It IS true my sister and I are the same height and neither of us have ever had a cavity. But it tapers off pretty quick after that, and no one else is the family is seems to have either of these traits anyway. (i.e. perfect teeth and exceptional height). I’m what you call a black sheep.
I am not terribly upset nor terribly happy about this. i figured out at a very young age I’m not a chip off the old block. It just is what it is. Yet I seem to be the only one ambivalent about it. I’m either told that “every family needs a black sheep” in a “you got this!!” kind of way, or I’m told (usually subtly) that there is something really wrong with me because I’m not besties with my sister or my mother (I still think being besties with your mother is creepy as all get out by the way).
News flash- most black sheep are like me. Most of us aren’t criminals or drug addicts. We don’t go out of our way to be different just for the sake of being different or because we are starving for attention/ affection. We just operate on a slightly different wavelength than the folks we are related to, and in most cases we have been since birth. We can’t change being “that weird relative” anymore than we can change our eye color.
Sure, we can lie and play along to make everyone else happy. And there are times when that is OK or even probably the best thing to do. No one wants to hear about your religious views or your new favorite “essential” oil at Grandma’s funeral.
But most of the time? Cut us a little slack. Yes, we love our families. And by and large they love us too and have accepted that we are “that weird one”. And that’s really all that matters.