literary interpretation

"I cannot recall a time when I did not know I was special."
This is a quote from Jeanette Winterson's Oranges are not the Only Fruit. It's on the first page of the text and is subtle but significant.
It has a broad sense of foreshadowing, but at the same time it creates a relationship between the reader and Jeanette. I felt a connection at that point because I think that everyone believes that they are special is some sort of fashion. We're all stuck in our heads a little bit. Remember the idea in McCloud's book that some think the world revolves around him/her. He illustrated this by drawing himself walking and seeing the world in front of him, and behind him (only when he looked). The world would disappear when he did not look at it.
It's a selfish way of thinking, and I thought that was almost the way of thinking of Jeanette, but then I realized she thought of "special" in a different way. Not the way of "the world revolves around me" but a special that was different. It's not necessarily a bad different, but it was enough to create issues for her (that ultimately made her into a better person... in my opinion). She became herself. It took her some time to pave her own path and separate her thoughts from her mother's but she became true to herself, and that was special.