We make jokes about who is the favorite family member. At least, I think we are joking. My sister Beth introduces herself as “the favorite aunt” to prospective spouses of nieces and nephews. I follow by introducing myself as the “good enough aunt.” Our daughter signs her correspondence with “your favorite child.” The attitude appears to be contagious since I recently got an email signed, “your favorite daughter-in-law.”
Katherine Paterson pulls a favoritism phrase from scripture for the title of her book Jacob Have I Loved. The protagonist’s perception of favoritism for her twin sister makes for uneasy relationships among the people who inhabit one of my favorite books.
A true answer to the “Who is your favorite?” question is hard to come by, but I think I have stumbled upon it. When I say I have taught kindergarten, second grade, and junior high, I’m often asked, “Which was your favorite?” My honest answer is, “The one I was teaching at the time.”
Carrying the idea further also seems true. In the many places I’ve lived, first as a country preacher’s daughter and then as an Army wife, my favorite place was the one where I was living at the time. My favorite friend, sister, child – or daughter-in-law – seems to be the one I am with at the time.
Follow this chain of logic and see if you can figure out who is my favorite blog-reader.
--- I think you’ve got it!