gross anatomy

Yesterday my daughter asked me what color the brain is. Gray. How did I know this? Because I took an anatomy class, where you study the body (yes, cadavers and everything). Yes, I saw a real brain. She wanted to know if I still had it? No. But did I take it home with me? Yikes. No, it had to stay at school. Did I ever see bones? Yes. I held them in my bare hands. Did I make a skeleton? No, but I saw a skeleton. (An aside from my other daughter: was I scared? No. She said she's scared of boy skeletons but not girl skeletons.) Did I know the person/body/cadaver? Well, sort of, I mean, I was pretty familiar with their muscles and organs and ligaments, etc.) Was it one of my friends? (I burst out laughing.) No. Was it one of my grandmas or grandpas? No. So if one of my friends got hurt at school and died would we use their body? (Can you just see it? Some poor student collapsing and dying from the stress of finals week on campus and the pre-med students get there first and take him straight to the anatomy lab.) No, they use people who have offered their bodies to science.

What an odd place this world is to a kid. She had no idea we were embarking into Zoology 260 when she asked me a simple question about color. Let this be a lesson to you: You just never know what you're going to learn, so keep asking those questions.