My family is ...well....interesting...I can openly say this because they will all agree with me - we are quite a mixture. Momma always compared us to the Lucielle Ball movie...Yours, Mine and Ours...I am the baby out of 10 kids and Neil is my only Full Blood sibling. He is also the only one that I really grew up the whole time with. Many of the others were in my life..some more than others...but I have many memories of all of them. But memories of me and Neil flood my childhood....Him teaching me to drive a 5 speed...(the little Chevy Love...) Our (yes they were both of ours....and don't let him tell you different...) Muppet Puppets....Climbing trees in the backyard, fighting in the backseat, making slip and slides with HUGE pieces of plastic..and climbing into bed beside him the morning that the coroner came to our house early that rainy morning to pick up Great Grandma after she passed away down the hall.....tons and tons of memories.....
When Neil and I begin talking we could tell stories for hours upon hours. I love that kind of relationship with someone when you only have to say a word or a phrase and memories come flooding back. And there is useless information that only they could give you....like - what was our Dr.'s name when we were little....(I wonder if possibly Debbie or Carla would remember but I know Momma would...) it was Dr Sauders...and he looked just like Captain Kangaroo. We use to sit in his waiting room reading Highlights magazines and we got to pick toys out of the treasure chest.
Neil had the most Awesome class..(you see how I threw that 80's word in there..lol...) Our class was 2 years behind him and we idolized them. Probably 2/3 of our class had older siblings in that class so we were all like family. Every morning we would meet in the library before school started and gather around one of the round tables listening to Tim or Kenneth read Garfield and Calvin and Hobbs out loud. Their class was full of pranksters and comedians....and as little brothers and sisters we were in awe of them....(don't know how funny the teachers thought they were but we enjoyed it....) I am always telling my kids and their friends stories about growing up and the things that we use to do. But it is so funny how many of my stories are things from Neil's class...His memories have become my memories....Sammy (?) sneaking out the window in Coach Tonn's class and and how they locked him out and then him just walking back into class and convincing Coach that he had given him permission to go to the bathroom....Being in Mrs. Ham's class and Neil telling the girls that he was crying because he had Leukemia...(when in reality he had just yawned and it caused his eyes to tear up....) and the girls running to the bathroom crying and his punishment was having to confess to the girls...Neil riding in the trunk of Tamara's car and pretending to be dead when they got to "the house"...their class being the ones that finally talked the school board to allowing us to have a prom....(Footloose.....It could have really been based on our lives....LOL..)
The class of 1986 taught us how to have a sense of humor and how to be adventurism....I wonder what things would have been like without them. What would we have done without Brent.....Brent hung out with Me, Suzy and Gina as much as anybody else.....I so remember riding in his car on graduation night one year out to someone's barn listening to his new cassette of Prince...Not to mention the whole trip to Lubbock to see him when he was working at the mall at the Pretzel Place and my care dying and Steve Rucker just happened to pull up and jump my battery.....LOL....Not mentioning how old I was....If you know that story then we must be close.....LOL!!! I remember Kenneth and his amazing musical talent on his Synthesiser and how he could Pinch you with his toes..LOL...I remember spending many hours at the Satterwhites "waiting" for Neil and Mitchell never getting to be part of the pranks because his dad was Superintendent and his mom was the English teacher..I remember Lucretia living at the end of our road and Pam across the field..I could go on and on.......sigh......
Neil has been a wonderful, wonderful brother....Although you would have never thought I would say that when I was younger...He will probably get upset at me for putting this out there because it is so not him now but he use to beat me up all the time when we were kids. He use to punch me so much that one time he was walking in his sleep and even came and beat me up...But I have to say that the time he threw the ball point pen and hit me in the eye and busted the blood vessels and then put a pillow over my face and begged me to quit crying was not intentional....it was just my turn on Mad Libs..LOL..but he didn't think Daddy would believe him so I went 2 days without looking at my parents because my eye looked like I was staring in a horror movie and then there was the moment I walked into the school the nurse called Momma to come get me...and then she FREAKED....LOL!!!.But now you would never know that he had a temper...He is the most caring and loving husband and father....And he is the best brother I could have ever asked for. It breaks my heart to be so very far away from him during these years of our lives. Years where we could be there to support and encourage each other. Neil now has 4 children....His daughter Peggy is almost the same age as Becca and has always been brilliant! Noel is brilliant as well but has his challenges...He has muscular dystrophy but that has not stopped him from being an incredible artist....And then he has 2 darling daughters ages 6 and 2...He is currently back in school and wanting to be in education. He has a wonderfully supportive wife that couldn't be a better soul mate for him and that makes me so happy. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished....and I love hi dearly....
Today I dream for you the opportunity to reflect on someone in your life....what do they mean to you? Think of memories that you share.....take the time to talk to them and let them know how they have impacted you.
Have a wonderful day my friends....
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