Super Star!

Hasassah (Heatherr), age 7

 

The photo above was taken in the months before my brother Ezra (Rex)  and I were adopted. The social worker who took this picture wanted to show me in my natural form. I assume it was shown to prospective adoptive parents, although the people who became our adoptive parents said they didn't see it. They chose my brother and I from school photos.

 

The things I love about this photo is that it shows so much that was meaningful to me. You can see my beloved waffle-stomper boots (the tread on the bottom made a waffle-imprint in the mud) that I wore constantly. I learned to tie my shoes on those red laces. The uppers were a soft blue leather suede, perfect for my top three favorite activities:

 

1. Tree climbing

2. Bike riding

3. Climbing the monkey bars on the school playground

 

When I was adopted, one of the first wars I fought with my new mother was over my waffle-stompers. She wanted me to wear new tennis shoes and I was determined to keep my boots. I wore them until I couldn't stuff my growing feet into them anymore. I begged for a replacement pair but my request was ignored. No adult in the foster home or my adopted home, could grasp the depth of my love of those boots. I have never been so attached to any piece of clothing since. RIP, blue suede waffle-stompers.

 

The pants I am wearing were my favorite Garanimal jeans. For those of you old enough to know, those were Giraffe jeans from the Granimal collection. I have no idea why I remember that, I just do. The other thing about this photo is that I am doing something I didn't do around adults of any kind. I let my shirt fall over my head, exposing my mid-section. My desire for the social worker to capture on film my amazing hanging-upside-down skills overrode my personal rule that I didn't voluntarily let adults see my body. People who have experienced childhood sexual abuse will understand.

 

The last thing to note about the photo is the sidewalk in the upper right hand corner. During the time the social worker was taking only my picture, all the kids watching the photo shoot had to stay out of the frame. They had been ordered off the sidewalk that ran next the yard I am in. I am proud of this picture because for the few minutes it took to get this, I also had the undivided attention of every kid on the block who was standing nearby. It was my first brush with fame, and I liked it.