These legs belong to my brother but they are an accurate approximation of what my legs would look like in their natural state.

When I was a kid, one of the things I thought was coolest about myself was the quarter part of my ancestry that was Jewish. I read ALL the books (Number the Stars, The Dairy of a Young Girl, Maus) and I loved the Anne Frank exhibit when it came through town. I especially enjoyed lording my genes over the rest of my white bread Girl Scout troop, implying that I would have been taken by the Nazis and then either escaped or romantically and selflessly died of starvation after giving all my bread to my true love, whereas they would have been wearing uniforms and marching around with the Hitler Youth (I conveniently left out the fact that I am also about as much German as…