Thanatopsis

It's a morbid parlor game of sorts: you take turns discussing whether or not you would have survived childbirth and childhood in the Middle Ages.

With twins in the breach position, my mother would most certainly have perished, as would my brother, with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Had he lived, he would have been a cripple with club feet. Would I have survived? Out of the three of us, I had the best chance--but being only 4lbs. 13 oz. at birth, probably not.

At a birthday party last week, it emerged that most of the attendees would have died. One of my girlfriends has a blood disorder; if she survived at all, she would have been mentally retarded. Another friend has some kind of allergic reactions, for which she takes constant meds. She, too, would have died. The only survivor? The birthday girl's boyfriend, who was born healthy. Good for him.

Out of my aunts and uncles, many would not have made it through childhood, if indeed they lived that long. The aunt who was prematurely born in the car on the way to the hospital, the uncle who cracked his head open falling from the haymow, another uncle who almost took my grandmother with him--none would have lived.

So how about you, dear readers: would you have made it to adulthood if you'd been born centuries ago? Take my poll, and leave a comment:




(Finally, I want to change my profile photo, so have to post it here to derive a URL. This was taken last month, when I got highlights and a blowout and demanded my roommate document my hirsuite beauty.)