30 Days of Me (Sue) Day 11 – Your siblings

"Your Siblings"

Well, as I start this, I have 4. By the time I am finished...
I'll still have 4.

I have 4 siblings, really. I have three sisters and one brother. Linda, Carolyn, Thomas, myself, and Jo... That's how we came and that's who we are.

My sister, Linda, the oldest, was 14 when I was born. Carolyn was 11, and Thomas was 7. Jo came when I was 3.



Thomas, Linda holding me, and Carolyn 1956



Linda is a beautiful woman and beautiful person. She has had her share of tough times and hard knocks, as most of us have, and yet her demeanor is sweet and humble, but strong. She's precious, patient, smart, and very much loved by me, her kids, people in her church, and anyone who has ever known her. She's talented, too!

Linda made my wedding cake, and my birthday cakes when I was young.



Me at my 7th birthday party - That's Linda holding her son Ricky.



She used to cut my hair. In fact, when I was about 8, my hair was down to my behind.

It was thick and I absolutely hated combing it because it hurt. There were constant threats to cut it if I didn't keep better care of it, and Linda used to come over and wash and brush and comb it. I must have given her a particularly hard time one day because she took me out on the back porch and cut my hair so that it was about an inch long all over my head... In my whole life, and in all the years I have known her, that day, and that day only, I both hated and loved her at once...

Once I realized that my hair was too short to have tangles, she was my hero. She still is. She always kept her own hair neat as a pin and beautifully styled,  

and she was basically the home salon for all the ladies of the church at one time. Perms, curls, cuts, styling, you name it, she did it. She sings like an angel and I have several homemade CDs that her husband, Eddie, was sweet enough to make. He has recognized finally that she is a diamond and he is probably the richest man in the world.

Chris ( Carolyn) and Linda

Carolyn is my next oldest sister and she lives in, and works for, the state of Arizona. Carolyn, or Chris as we call her, is a no-nonsense kind of woman. She too grew up with a few hard knocks and in tough times. She's frugal, and thrifty and dependable. She's an extremely pretty woman with a whole lot of willpower. She managed to raise her two daughters by herself for the most part, while selling real estate, and did a good job of it.

Me and Carolyn (Chris)



Carolyn, or Chris. See I told you she was extremely pretty!



I don't know how many years of school and college she's invested in but it shows, and don't dare engage her in a conversation wherein you aren't absolutely sure of your facts because she can out debate you on practically anything! She makes me proud! I love her and wish we lived closer together. She's definitely the kind of person I like to hang out with.

She's re-married now to an "old hippie" as she calls him, and he is a special ed teacher. Chris just became a grandmother for the first time, and if her past attempts at success is any indication, she's going to excel at 'grandmother-ness' too. 

Thomas - my brother. Want to talk about hard knocks and tough times? Try being the only boy - born between two girls, and then two more.

Me, Thomas, Jo

Thomas was the typical "Big brother" that all little girls need to protect them from boys who steal kisses on the playground, and of course, from the boogeyman at night. My mother said that I wouldn't eat for anyone but Thomas when I was little. Someone, one of my sisters probably, has a picture of him feeding me a Chicken Pot Pie when I was probably a year old. Even as I grew older, he was still the one I ran to when I had nightmares or was just plain out scared of something. He's my hero because he kept the water moccasin from biting me when Jo and I were swimming at the boat landing at Huger one year. He also helped me catch my first huge catfish!

Thomas or "Junior" as we called him, had it rough. Daddy was hard on him, and no one will deny that. When he was old enough, Thomas joined the Navy. He was stationed in Cuba for a long time, and then Spain, and then Morocco where he met and married Fatima. They had a daughter, Maria, and eventually divorced. Thomas moved to Missouri and remarried. Maria was killed, and no one knows where Fatima is.



He looks like a little boy here.

When I was 7, I got a bicycle for Christmas one year. It was a red Western Flyer with a shiny Chrome fender and it was the most beautiful bike ever. Thomas had busted his somehow and in order to engage in some playtime one afternoon, my sister and I coerced him into playing " Taxi" with him driving my bike, as the taxi driver. The fee was some candy, an early version of Star Burst, and he was more than willing to participate in the game. I had just come out of the front door from making a withdrawal from the candy jar for a ride on the handlebars of the taxi. I ran around one corner of the house calling " Taxi!" and was about to make the second corner, when he did. The angle of the bike had the fender practically vertical, which liked up perfectly with the front of my shin, and from that 'wreck' I ended up with 11 stitches. That scar eventually wound up turning into NLD, which occasionally is the result of trauma. The interesting thing is that some 21 years after that initial wound, I had to go and have a minuscule fleck of lead paint removed from beneath the scar.

I came along after Thomas, and for two years (well as soon as I could talk) I begged my parents for a baby.
I think it started when my Dad needed some piece of wood, plywood I guess, for one of his projects. We were at Charleston Lumber Company, which later became Pelican Building Center, which later became Builder's FirstSource, which later became my employer... But I digress.

I remember clearly sitting in the backseat of the car that day, waiting with my Mom, for Daddy to come out of the lumber store. Before he did, however, several other people came out, and at least two of them were women with their husbands and they were holding babies.
Naturally, or not naturally, I figured that babies did not come from beneath cabbage leaves, but you bought them, instead, from the store where you buy everything to build anything, including babies.
I leaned across the front seat, excited beyond words, as first one, and then another woman came out with a baby in her arms. I was bouncing!
" Mama! Where is Daddy? When is he going to come out? What kind of baby is he getting?!"
"What? What are you talking about, Sue?"
"Daddy went in the store to get a baby! See! There's another one!"
And indeed, another couple came out, and the Dad was holding his little boy.
"Daddy went in there to get our baby, didn't he?!"

My disappointment was probably tangible when Daddy came out pushing a cart with a piece of plywood instead of a carriage holding a new baby.
However, later that same year I guess, Mama and Daddy both went somewhere and three days later, they came back with my baby. My baby sister - Jo Ann.




Me and Jo

 She's smart, she's got talent, she's beautiful, and she's had her share of tough times, just like everyone else.

We fought like little kittens as kids. We jumped on the beds and knocked each other's teeth out when our heads collided. She and I see-sawed, we dug worms, we played Barbie, we shared our playhouse that Daddy built, and we were each other's companion through our childhood.  When I was hanging out with Daddy in the shed, she was in the kitchen with Mama. She can make Sweet Potato pies just like Mama did, and I am happy for that!
We loved each other then and we love each other now. We're still each other's companion, and when either of us needs a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend, we know the other is there.

These are my siblings. Each of them contributed so much to my life and my memories and I am so thankful that they are all still with me today.

I love all of you.