Chrissy

I'm thinking today (dangerous, I know) about my cousin, Chrissy. I decided that I would rather think about her and write about how much she means to me.

It all started when we were teenagers. Prior to that, she was just a cousin I hung out with at family gatherings. But, the turning point came when we were in high school. She came with her folks to my grandma Preli's house when the "adults" were going to play cards---it might have been New Years Eve. We went out from there and she spent the weekend with me. That was the beginning of something BIG. We became inseparable---spending as many weekends together as we could. We weren't able to talk on the phone as it was a "toll" call to Overland (where she lived) to Spanish Lake (where I lived). We alternated weekends at first. I loved going to her house because her mom cooked such good food and they had tons of cookies and snacks---a rarity at our house. As soon as mom would come home from the grocery store, we pretty much ate all the goodies right away. With 7 kids, they didn't go far. That's why it was such a treat to go to Aunt Jo's---loved those Hydrox cookies---much better than Oreos. She told me that she loved feeding me because I liked everything. I wasn't picky---we weren't allowed to be. We had to eat everything on our plate---which really isn't a good habit. I still do that today---even when I'm full or not really enjoying the food---just programmed to eat it all---no thought involved---involuntary reaction to a plate of food. One of my favorite things that Aunt Jo made was Swiss Steak. I wish I'd thought to ask her for that recipe. Back to Chrissy.

Chrissy always shared her "stuff" with me. She had it all---make-up, records, jewelry, clothes, you name it. She was always so cute---had great hair and nails too. And, she was downright skinny with good boobs. We danced all the time---American Bandstand was our favorite. We followed all the local teen dances at the Catholic Churches. We used to babysit for her sister, Judy, in exchange for rides. We even dated best friends---which made it nice. We started smoking together as a joke when one of the "boys" left his cigarettes. We decided to smoke them all before the guys came back the next day. Not a very smart move---it took us a long time to quit. Still, I remember standing at my bedroom window blowing the smoke out. I don't know why I worried about that. Mom was a smoker, so she wouldn't have been able to tell.

When she came to my house, I could always count on her to clean my room. I was a mess as a teenager. I never really understood how my room could get so bad. My bed would be piled high with clothes, but I still managed to climb in to sleep. I was supposed to clean my room every Saturday before I could go out with my friends. If Chrissy was there, she took care of it. I also was supposed to change my sheets on Saturday. The only time they actually got changed was when Chrissy did it. When she wasn't there, I took the clean sheets, bunched them all up and threw them in the dirty clothes. Mom would have killed me if she knew. Uh, oh, she knows now!

And now the real reason I've been thinking about Chrissy. She sent me an email about my Mother's Day post saying she wanted to "kiss" my chubby cheeks. Only she would see beyond the fat. I do love that girl!!!

We always drew a crowd to watch us dance!! When I discovered this picture, it made me realize that our love of dancing started early!

Me and my chubby cheeks when they weren't as chubby as they are now.