It was Halloween night and my five year old son and I had just gotten home from trick-or-treating. I got him out of his circus clown costume, washed him up and had him brush his teeth and then we were off to bed.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6xymZmdlm
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“I sure am glad that you're my son,” I told Jace after we had finished reading his storybook for the night.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKg4RvQIHz
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“I'm glad you're my daddy, too,” he replied.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0VN1tanct
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I leaned in and snuggled him against me, “Alright,” I said, “It's hug time and then sleepy time.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrycqd3zRYj
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Jace gave me a tight hug and laid up against me until he was in the verge of sleep. “I used to be your daddy,” he said in a dreamy, half conscious manner. The look on his five year old face was dead serious. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uScDh0dLE
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Raising my eyebrow I said, “No, silly boy. I've always been your daddy.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkoO1D1xfx
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“Nuh uh,” he quickly responded. “I used to be your daddy and you used to be my daughter.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwZaELyXxn
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“What are you talking about, crazy butt?” I asked him.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3U8bVkwzE
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“Back when we lived in Minnesota,” he said. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6ngxf5yDW
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“Minnesota?” I said. “We've always lived right here.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9W8sbChQrU
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“Nuh uh,” he said again. “First we lived in the homeland and then we comed to America on a ship. It was stinky and made mama’s tummy hurt. She was glad when we got off it.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnY3b2S4Na
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“Have you been learning about immigrants at school?” I asked him with half a smile on my face.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9o5sC60rPL
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A puzzled look swept across his face. “What's an injagrent?” he asked. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrCP6qrS3X
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“An immigrant,” I answered. “A person who came here from another country.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EmtaJj2wn
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“Like we did?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpRMiVxNNT
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“Not like we did. We have always lived here.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgaVmEwvgh
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“Daaaaaaad,” Jace responded, “I tolded you! We used to live in Minnesota!”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGoxWz5bmp
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“You're telling stories, sir,” I said to him and gave him a quick tickle. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4p1Isx7Y1p
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He laughed. “No I'm not!” he said. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cDtY5UIRG
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“Well if we came over on a ship,” I said, “then how did we get to Minnesota?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQd2vyifWE
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“Mama didn't like the town we were in, so she said that we needed to go somewhere else,” he responded. “She said it was too crowded and people were mean.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovIaPhAmam
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My half smile turned into a look of pure curiosity. Where had he heard these things? Had he maybe seen a documentary on tv? Where was he getting this information?847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡla000qZiIo
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“How did we get to Minnisota?” I asked him.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAPdI5tJmZ
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“Me and mama workded until we could buy a two horses and a wagon. Then we rode and walked. It was a long way.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQ36FjSE8C
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“A very long way,” I said. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6LZ0fXj5C
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“But we gotted there after a while,” he said. “And then we made a farm.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZUXuUEzLh
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“We were farmers?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMN2tik1St
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“Yeah, but it wasn't easy. Mama cried a lot.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqrczLVmui
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“Why did mama cry?” 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TAz8chHZS
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“Cuz she missed the homeland and her little sister.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcBmaR10uy
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I was taken back by the conversation my five year old son and I were having. He had never told me a story like the one he was telling me. It was unnerving listening to him to provide answers with such clarity.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS6Czpk1wC
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“Well,” I asked, “were we good farmers?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVO9XapsPL
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Shaking his head he said, “No. The dirt wasn't very good and I didn't really know how to do it good. You and mama had to get jobs in town. That's where you met him.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdl6Lr3e75J
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The way he had said “him” was curious. He said it with no small amount of bitterness. “Who did I meet?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXaYxrUCOj
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“The red headed boy from the farm next door,” he answered without pause. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgyYm1AYck
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“Was he a nice boy?” I asked. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjR7kzmMC88
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“No,” he replied. “He took you away from your chores and you wanted to spend all your time with him.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlzbWOqpsy
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“Was he a boyfriend?” I questioned.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyM55ryIdr
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“No. I told you no daughter of mine is going to be married to a spud eater,” he said. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqBiks01fS
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“A spud eater?” I asked. “What's that?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQCSr0myEo
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“I can't remember,” he said. “It was cuz he was innish I think.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX98UylRKSA
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“Innish?” I inquired.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojYurL5R3i
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“Yeah, innish,” he answered. “His family comed over on a boat, too.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvpi2eNizU
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“Irish?” I asked. “Do you mean he was Irish?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAS9Ob6Sf5
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“Yes,” he said sleepily. “Irish. That was it.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6d76AGGVlV
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I became very concerned. Where had he heard this? Had someone been been using racial slurs around my son? Maybe someone at school?847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpY20nBgSBe
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“You didn't like him because he was Irish?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjXRKgl4NV
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“Yeah,” he responded immediately. “I told him to stay away, but you kept sneaking out to see him.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDDLflVO4o
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“Did mama care that I was visiting the Irish boy?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5Hwq7fQ9Y
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“No. She said he made you happy, so we should be happy, too.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVCrKqlGAj
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“Were you happy?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1g39wiQmb
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He got quiet.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCwP1Ra7Jm
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“Well?” I said.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPRkYamFsB
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“No,” he answered. “I told you you couldn't visit him no more and you runned away with him.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3k1nSu0Nv3
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“I ran away?” 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY2ihgE8Cj
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“Yeah. But you didn't get very far.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ksvPVxMB3
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“I didn't?” I asked. “Did you bring me home to be with you and mama?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHGJ8pQDSk
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“No. When I founded you you said you weren't coming home and the red headed boy told me to go away,” he said. “But I told him you was my daughter and you was coming home with me.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc86RLPENm
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“Was he very happy about that?” I asked; not really wanting to know the answer. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDoeysmsnE
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“He weren't happy at all,” Jace responded. “He tried to whack me.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pQSfQVt6L
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“He tried to whack you?” I said.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCME6I1GWu
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“Yeah,” Jace replied, “But I whopped him with a wood chopper and he falled down.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGTEmmwY9E
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I sat in a stunned silence for a moment. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my son’s mouth. I didn't want to know, but I had to ask. “A wood chopper?”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVnoPCcqKr
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“I whopped him with one,” he said. “He didn't try to whack me no more.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe98ClyhScn
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“So what did I do?” I cautiously asked him.847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdWFtRTfTH
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“You comed out and told me you was gonna to go tell everyone in town,” he said in a tired voice. He was on the verge of sleep. “So I whopped you with the wood chopper, too,” he said dreamily. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn9bPTySH4
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“What?” I said as other words escaped me. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD304Po5fxC
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“I whopped you, too,” he said. “And I digged a hole in the ground and put you two in it.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRXNqjXwM6
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He turned onto his side and started to close his eyes. Sleep was beginning to set in. A chill crawled up my spine and my arm and neck hair was literally standing on end. This couldn't have come from the mind of my five year old. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJkwD4EhfD
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“What did mama say?” I whispered. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1X9gxwplv
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There was silence. I thought he had fallen asleep, but as soon as I sat up and put my feet over the edge of his bed he said in the sleepy voice, “She asked if I found you and I said no. But I knowed where you was. I knowed where you would be forever.”847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGd2IyewwV
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And with that the heavy, steady breathing of sleep sat in. I stood up and stared at my sleeping son for I don't know how long. I was shaken. It took me a long time to get to sleep that night. 847Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KN6XMAeTb
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