In anticipation of the Thanksgiving festivities that will ensue later this evening and continue on the morrow, I thought I'd write an homage to two of my little cousins. I use the word "little" loosely, considering the fact that Paula is now a bonafide adult (having both a college degree and a grownup job to her name), and Philip hasn't been little since he shot up to 6 feet tall at the ripe old age of twelve (I think he's currently hovering around 6'4 or 5 at the age of twenty).
Some background info: my brother, sister, and I grew up in the country. The real country. The country referred to as "The Stix"... our childhood home was surrounded by multiple agricultural fields, thick woods into which we were not under any circumstances allowed to venture, and an old deer stand out of which Brother and I built a treehouse using old plywood and rope.
Paula and Philip grew up in Richmond, VA. We called them our Cityfied Cousins. They didn't run barefoot outside. They always lived in cul-de-sacs with multiple neighborhood children to play with. They didn't say "y'all" NEARLY enough. Philip always got really excited to go to Aunt Surrie's house because he got to eat grits (not that my Aunt Gracia wouldn't fix grits for them.... it's just that they were a daily staple in my house). Let me say now that their City-Southerness has never bothered me nor my siblings... it's just that our differences made for fun conversations growing up. (I should also note that recently I've realized that I think I now qualify as "City-Southern" since it's been such a long time since I've lived in the true country. It was a hard realization, but I'm starting to accept my new lot in life.)
One of my Favorite Funny Stories Involving Paula:
During the Prime of The Crocodile Hunter, there was a parody on South Park of Steve Irwin's interaction with a wild crocodile. In true South Park fashion, it was a little crass and involved a statement along the lines of, "Crikey! This is one of the most dangerous animals in the WORLD! Let's get closer!" And then the parody Irwin proceeded to suggest he stick one of his digits in an orifice of the animal to quote-unquote, "...see if we can piss 'im offfff!!!" That summer, my family was on vacation at a beach house in NC (Holden, I believe it was), and that was THE joke of the week. When we went crabbing, many jokes were made about trying to piss off the crabs. You can only imagine the possibilities.
So anyway, one evening we were sitting on the back porch watching the glories that accompany a sunset over the Intercoastal Waterway, and there was a string of jokes made, none of which I remember.... but I DO remember it all coming to a boiling head when sweet, innocent, shy twelve-year-old blonde-haired blue-eyed Paula pipes up at the PERFECT unexpected moment with a, "Let's see if we can piss 'im offf!!!" I realize that as I type this, it's probably not that funny to you, but it makes me giggle every time, because I look back on that as the moment that Paula went from a child to a non-child in my eyes. It was HILARIOUS.
I Don't Think I Can Pick Just One Story About Philip
What can I say about this guy? When he was little, I had to figure out how to balance between the two of them, convincing Paula to play tag one hour, and convincing Philip to play Barbies the next (sorry, dude... you did it, I'm just retelling it). When he was a young teenager, I made fun of him for liking Twilight but then had conversations with him about why he liked it (since I was teaching kids his age by that time). When our families went to the beach six weeks after my dad died, I sat sadly in a corner of the balcony as I wrote really-bad-I'm-super-sad poetry and looked out at the ocean... and when I turned and saw Philip looking at me, he gave me a sad smile. Strangely, I think that smile defines my relationship with him... it that one expression it felt like he said without saying, "Dude, I'm so sorry. I miss him, too."
So tonight they'll arrive with my Aunt Gracia for another holiday gathering, and I'm psyched. It's fun now that they're both adults (mostly :-P), and we'll start a bonfire in the chiminea in the backyard, and we'll all stay up too late, and we'll laugh at crass jokes and make s'mores ("How can I have some more if I haven't had anything?" "You're killin' me, Smalls!").
Even if they ARE Cityfied, I still thank God upon every remembrance of them. :)
