Exquisitely Happy News

When I was a sophomore in high school I had the delightful opportunity to visit the family pediatrician and receive a physical. Although Dr. White (names have been changed) is an awfully kind man, he's probably not the most skilled doctor in the medical field. Luckily, for me, this meant that my 'physical' consisted of Dr. White putting a tongue compressor in my mouth while I said "Ahh", hitting my knee with a hammer to test for reflexes, and measuring my height. Clearly, I was not blessed with the gift of height, so when Dr. White's measurements read a whopping 5 foot 1 I was not surprised. Slightly pleased that I had surpassed the five-foot mark, actually. And when Dr. White announced that I was done growing and would be 5'1" for the remainder of my life I wasn't that disappointed. Over the past four years I've come to accept that fact and have become happy with my shortness. Some of the most monumental/notorious figures in history suffered from this same disease. Take Napoleon Bonaparte for example, 5'6" and look at what he accomplished. And Suger, the French architect who designed the famous Gothic cathedral, The Abbey of St. Denis, whose headstone reads, "Suger was a man of small stature and small family who in all of his smallness refused to be a small man." From these men I have learned that despite my 'smallness' I can still accomplish great things. I was perfectly content with my height of 5'1". Until today. Today the measuring tape was pulled out. It is the first time I have measured myself since that fateful day four long years ago. And lo and behold, the pediatrician who told me I would be 5'1" for life was proven wrong today, the 14th day of June, 2009. Over the past 4 years I have grown a whole inch and a half. No longer when fellow human beings ask me how tall I am will I reply 5 foot 1. I can now proudly and boldly announce that I am 5 foot 2 1/2 inches tall. This is kind of a big deal and news that makes me exquisitely happy. Maybe in another four years I'll be 5 foot 4...