My parents had 9 kids in 15 years, and I’m the oldest. That alone made for a unique childhood --  full of wonderful times and oddball events. 

Sometimes when you look back into your family tree, though, you realize just how oddball the events were that led up to your existence. 

Take, for example, my great grandmother, Nora Ellen Wright. Her story sounds like a typical love affair until you learn the little twist at the end. 

In the beginning, Nora knew the sisters of her soon-to-be-husband. She first saw William Franklin Ladd from her window when he was walking into the house to talk to her Dad.  She called him a "rascal" when she first saw him. He kept coming back night after night, their first "date" being a car trip to get ice cream. In that car trip, William asked her if she had a boyfriend. 

Nora jokingly replied, "I don't have ANY friends." They laughed. Then William said, "I'll be your boyfriend." One month after the first meeting, they married. 

Nora tells the story of William going to ask her Dad if they can marry. 

"I'm going to ask him to have you," he said. 

"You can ask him, but he'll say no," she replied. 

So William and Nora's Dad met in the back yard. William came back in. 

"What did he say?" 

He said our ages are far apart." 

"What did you say to that?" 

"I said, 'We'll manage.'" 

Just how far apart were their ages? Well, she was 18 and he was 48. The man she was about to marry was older than her father. 

If permission had not been given on that day for them to marry, I and my brothers and sisters would not be here today. 

Pretty scary, isn't it? 

Perhaps what people find the most fascinating about my family, though, is that my parents are herpetologists and that my brothers and sisters and I grew up over the years with tens of thousands of snakes. 

No kidding.