Dish Duty

I’ve mentioned before that most of my cousins are older than me ...

I have beautiful, stylish, smart cousins. They had (and have) interesting conversation, they had (and have) cool friends, and wore (and still wear) great clothes. Best of all, they didn’t totally ignore me. Well, most of the time, anyway. Once I got my fingers slammed in a door. Once I caused a 3-wheeler wreck into a railroad ditch. But more often I got to sit in the shadow of really great women. I couldn't wait to be them.

For several summers, English got stuck carting us from Grandma’s house to the pool when we were visiting. She probably didn’t choose that duty, but she shouldered it like a champ — letting us sing along in the car, not pretending she didn’t know us, introducing us to her friends. In fact, she acted like we were her friends And Angie had a job at some store or company that made bags. Cool bags, too. Once she spent the whole day at Grandma’s teaching us how to put on make-up. And then a few days later, we got a package in the mail. We were the first girls we knew who had great hippie bags — probably the first and only time in my life I was on top of a trend.

Some of my earliest memories of being at my Grandma’s house are of watching the older girls wash dishes together. They’d talk about school, boys they were dating or might date or would never date, shopping trips …. unimportant stuff, really. I dreamed of being part of that. I couldn’t wait for the day when I’d be old enough to be included in washing the dishes that our family generated when we were together. And one day, there I was. Towel in hand, ready to dry the forks, knives, spoons, glasses, plates. Being asked about school, boys … my opinion. I had arrived.

And just for Mike, because he loves this story …
My first trip to Clemson University happened when I was in second grade (thanks, Mrs. Banks). We checked out the Agriculture stuff, sciences building, Frank Howard Field at Memorial Stadium (a.k.a. Death Valley) … and then, the cafeteria. We were rolling along, the second graders in awe of the college students, the orange Tiger Paws on the streets and Danny Ford. And then I became the coolest of all second-graders because there, in an inside-out sweatshirt, was Krista, one of my cousins. Yes, you read that right. INSIDE OUT SWEATSHIRT. Did she run and hide? Pretend not to notice me? Nod and smile and go on about her business? No. She hugged us (me and my Mom - the best chaperone ever) and ditched her college friends to have lunch with us.

So … thanks to Tara, Angie, Krista, English, Shane and Ashley …for not being too annoyed with me, for driving me around, teaching me to draw lightning (Go Flashes!), letting me watch Top Gun with you, for lunch in Clemson, sharing your clothes (I will return them!!), for reading my blog … for being great women, great cousins, great friends. Love y’all.