Pass the Kudzu, please.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how blessed I am to have grown up with and to still have the two sisters I have. They are my best friends and always have been. Before you get the idea that we were perfect children, let me tell you that I got the worst beatings (and scars) at the hands of my sisters. However, best friends we were, are and always will be. It's scary sometimes when I know what they are thinking or can complete their sentences.

Growing up with them was interesting to say the least. Bibby was the "mama" in the family. She is 7 years older than me and 10 years older than Kathy. She loves to tell the story of giving me a birthday party when Mama was in the hospital giving birth to Kathy. When I say a party, I mean a PARTY complete with cake and ice cream and the neighbor kids. Because she was older and the pseudo-mama, she's always been the boss. She thinks she still is :). As we got older, she watched us for mama to work and I guess that did give her the right to "boss us around" although we still didn't like it.

Once Bibby was in the backyard burning leaves and grass. At the same time, she was supposed to be watching me while Mama washed her hair. I was, of course, helping rake the leaves. The fire spread quickly and caught the leg of my overalls on fire. Mama heard me screaming, came outside with soapy, wet hair and jumped to the ground from a 12 foot porch. She "slapped" at my firey pants leg putting the fire out. Thank goodness her wet hands kept the fire from burning her.

Kathy and I were cohorts in crime. Looking back on some of the things we did, it is small wonder that we ever survived childhood. One of our favorite things to do was play house. We stripped the leafy part off kudzu leaves, leaving the stemmy part that runs through the middle of the leaf. With DOUBLE EDGE RAZOR BLADES, we would cut that stem up into little pieces, pretending it was bologna we were slicing.

Once, Daddy was supposed to be keeping Kathy and I but he had the chance to go rabbit hunting, leaving us home alone. I am unsure how old we were but we moved from the house we were living in when I was 9 years old so I think we were too young to be left alone. Kathy and I seized the opportunity to get into mischief again...we loved sugar and butter sandwiches...just white bread spread with butter and about 1/4 cup of sugar made into a sandwich. That day while we were home alone, Kathy and I ate 5 lbs. of sugar!

When we lived "in the country," (mind you, country is not the opposite of city, in this instance) Daddy had built a storage shed over the well. The well house became our playhouse. It had a gable roof and we would climb up the ladder into the "attic" space of the well house to play. We thought Daddy had built it just for us :).

Speaking of wells, I remember a season of drought when our well went dry. All three of us girls would carry 5 gallon buckets to Daddy's cousin's house across the road, fill the buckets and carry water. I can't remember how long, but this went on for a while.

I won't go into details here, but if you know Kathy, ask her about strings and using the bathroom out in the yard. She and I both have a tale to tell about that.

I'll admit to having a thing with chalk and the outhouse. Just ask.

My sisters and I didn't have a lot of "things" growing up, thus, playing with razor blades, broken pieces of glass, chalk and spools from Carolina Blouse; however, we had love for each other and we knew we were loved. To this day, all I would have to do is pick up the phone, say "I need you" and either of my sisters would be with me as soon as they could drive to me. I love and appreciate them more than they ever could know and I hope I show it to them everyday. (Yep, we talk EVERYDAY!) Love you Bibby and Kathy.