I got a real shock, late last night... a cousin of mine passed away. Sandy was my age... and I wasted so much time.... We did not spend much time together, but I loved her. And I sat in my living room, late in the night, and cried.
As pre-teens, and young teens we spent a little time together. Her grandmother was my mothers sister, you see, and we went on some road trips together to visit relatives.
We went out to the Lancaster, Wisconsin area to visit some relatives. Sandy and one of her brothers, and I - we were kids... the three of us rode together in the back seat of the pale green Oldsmobile. It was her brother's birthday, and the adult women had a little surprise party planned. We parked at a little picnic area along the Mississippi River and had lunch and birthday cake. It is a time I barely remember, but for many years now that little memory of the birthday cake being brought out to the wooden picnic table by that mighty river has been a kind of comfort to me. I cherish it.
. . .
Some time later, when we were young teens, my mother and her sister decided to take a trip to visit their brother, Fred, in Tennessee. They thought it was nice to bring us two girls together on this road trip.
Sandy and I, again the back seat, I have no recollection of the car... but my mother, the main driver, chose to not take the interstate highways... so there were many twists and turns of the route between northern Illinois and the vicinity of McEwen, Tennessee... and Sandy and I found it uproariously funny, and asked if we were following the trail of buffalo or of drunken indians, or perhaps some lost pilgrim. As young teens we thought it was so funny. My mom laughed with us. Eventually we did arrive at Fred's place.
Uncle Fred kept peacock birds on his property. He also had a pen full of chickens for the eggs. That man did love gigantic breakfast meals. Sandy and I wandered around the property, several acres off a rural roadway. We happened to spy Fred going to the chicken coop, and we got an idea for a fun prank. Fred was an amusing man, prone to tell a funny story and get us laughing,... he loved to tease us kids too. So our prank was payback for some teasing I no longer recall. We snuck up on that chicken coop and locked Uncle Fred in! and we ran away laughing loudly.
Mind you, we would not have locked the coop shut if not for the fact that Fred could reach though the fencing above waist height and unlock the padlock. It took him a couple of minutes to contort his arms enough to get the key in the lock and unlock it,... laughing and scolding us the entire time.
A pleasant memory of a moment of mischief.
We did love Uncle Fred.
And I did love my cousin Sandy.
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