How my mother dodged a childhood trauma

​

My mother, an only child at that time, was five years old. She overheard her parents, who were dirt-poor farmers in the backwoods of Tennessee, talking about how it would have been much better if their daughter had not been born so soon after they got married. 

​

In overhearing this, my mother's heart swelled with pride as she told herself, "I was so powerful that I came when I wanted to!"