Slice of Life Story Challenge #3 - Julián is a Mermaid

 My focus this month is to explore writing invitations, mostly through picture books, but possibly some other mentor texts as well. 

 

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love, love, love this picture book! Not only are the illustrations outstanding, but what a beautiful celebration of acceptance, love, and diversity. I was just as nervous as Julián when his abuela sees him all dressed up like a mermaid, but what she does is amazing.

Invitation to write: Write about a time you felt you wanted to do something or be something that wasn't accepted because of gender, race, cultural background, or any other identity factor?

I grew up an only child in the country with a dad who loved to work outdoors, ride horses, hunt, and fish.  Fortunately, my dad was not hung up on the fact that I was a girl and maybe it wasn't altogether acceptable that girls chopped and stacked wood, hunted, and fished.  This was the 70s and 80s, so it wasn't like some of those barriers were already broken, but it still wasn't a common thing to see a young girl traipsing through the fields in hunting gear with a shotgun cradled in her arm.  In fact, I never did see a girl when I went hunting with my dad and his buddies.  They all brought along their sons. 

When we took a break for lunch to warm our cold hands and feet, rest our tired legs, and feed our hungry bellies with warm homemade vegetable soup, I was surrounded by testosterone (except for the cooks, who were women).  This isn't something I terribly minded, but I do look back on it in wonder.  It was interesting that the lack of other girls didn't deter me from doing what I loved.  I loved being with my dad, walking in the chilly November air, watching our dogs point, flush, and retrieve, and the sense of pride when one of them returned my bird.  I did. however, always feel like I had something to prove, a feeling I wondered if those boys ever had.  They probably did, just not in the same way. 

Maybe we all have something to prove in some form or another.  Some barrier we're trying to break down.  Some expectation we want to rail against.  Some challenge we want to take on. In the scheme of things, that's good.  If it weren't for that, nothing would change.  We'd all be stuck in some status quo that is neither productive or healthy for individuals or society.  My dad was much like Julián's abuela.  He would sometimes look upon me with surprise, but then fondness, hand me a fishing rod, bridle, or shotgun, and lead the way.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," says Dad.

Field, woods, barn, lake, duck blind.  Where all the other hunters, riders, fisherman, and woodsmen were. That's where I belonged.

I'm on the far left.  The only girl!

I shared this photo at least once on my blog during a SOLSC: My Dad Has a Country Heart