And here it is, from Melania:
Reelly, it iss such a small vorld, yes? Ven I vass leetle, from age four to eh-levven, I grow upp in de coastal ceety Crescent, Caleefornia. In ’64, de beeg Alaska quake come, an’ de tventy-foot tsoo-nah-mee hit. I vass eight year old. Ve leeved maybe vone mile een-land. Population, maybe feef tousand only.
Vone of my two best frends, he vass James Hooper, an’ hees grandfadder — also James Hooper — he sign de De-clah-rat-ion of Independence, vith Jefferson’s commitee, can you beleeve? Last I hear, Jim is lawyer back in Crescent Ceety.
Our neighbor then, he vass Monroe — yess, related to Prezident Monroe. Vunce, I am climbing a tree, an’ he is playing behind hees mama’s car… and she drives back right over heem, complete-ly! An’ he just stands up—like nussing happen.
De moost maximum-securiteh pree-son, Pelican Bay, it is near there, I beleef… Ve vere crah-zee keeds back then. In school, dey carve deir init-ials into de arm vith razor blade… drink bat-ter-ee acid… you know, de usual.”**
(she lifts her shoulders softly)
**“Small town… but very good times. My good frend, hees family had German Shep-herd related to Reen Teen Teen.
My close cousin, he vass Assistant Dee-Ay, two buildings avay during de Oklahoma bomb-ing. Again… small vorld.
Later, I leef in Oregon for high school — small place, maybe tventy-four tousand. An’ somehow de neighbor an’ another frend, ve all end up in Anchorage. One becomes largest concrete compan-ee, de other, vone of de largest pile-drivers… and me, largest framing contractor, later general.
By 2000, Google put me in top three percent of small bee-ziness in de Northwest. Not bad… from eight-hundred feefty tousand.”** |
