Friday's FIVE!

I have always considered myself lucky to share my life with my cousins... I have a total of seven cousins - 4 on my Dad's side of the family - Mark, Bob, Nancy and Amy.... and three on my Mother's side - Rex, Angie and Elizabeth. My cousin Angie and I are 18 months apart ...
(I need to make it very clear here that Angie is 18 months OLDER than I am).... and while I will forever tease her about being older than me... the age between us has never been significant. We have always been very, very close - and while time can pass without much contact - the love and bond we share is deep. I was thrilled to see her at our Luau this year... and was able to have a short visit with her this week. We have shared our deepest secrets... and our greatest fears... we have shared happy days - and we have shared days filled with sorrow. This Friday's FIVE! is a tribute to Angie just because I love her and I've enjoyed reconnecting with her this month!!! This Friday's FIVE! will highlight five of my best memories with my close cousin... my lifetime friend- Angie Alexander Moon

1. Chickens, Crayons & Tabasco Sauce - It must have been around Easter - because the Lumber Yard was having a promotion and giving away little chicks. The chicks were in a wooden bottle case- the kind glass soda pop used to come in... and each chick was in its own little space in the case. They were being safely stored in the shower at our house. Mom and Dad's house on 52nd street in Marion had a large shower - the depth of a regular bathtub with a large ledge to sit on. The chicks were in the case sitting on the ledge. Angie and I decided we needed to 'feed' the Chicks... and for some reason, we decided that Crayons and Tabasco Sauce would be a delictable treat for the tiny yellow chicks. I'm not sure what Dad ended up doing for the promotion ... but those chicks didn't live to see that Spring Promotion at the Lumber Yard.

2. Sleep overs at her "D" Street House - we spent the night together a lot. When we were little and when we were teenagers. I can remember spending a lot of time upstairs at her house on "D" street listening to albums and talking forever ... I loved staying all night with her - because she lived in town and had so many friends within walking distance. I grew up in a 'neighborhood' on the far south side of town... and it was a completely different environment. We could walk to a Shroats market... and we could walk to her friends homes. I loved it!!!

3. BOYS BOYS BOYS Angie was pretty and Angie was blonde. I was the chubby brunette. Whenever with Angie - wherever we were.... there were BOYS BOYS BOYS. Angie would come to the lake with me = and we would meet new boys. Jimmy Heltzle was a friend of my brothers, and a very cute rebel boy on the lake. Jimmy Heltzle was around, only if Roger or Angie were here....

4. GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS Angie and I grew up together - and it was our dream to have children at the same time. Our dream came true - My oldest daughter, Katie is just 2 months older than Angie's twins, Laura and Tara....and 2 1/2 years later, my Betsy was born.
The girls were also raised together - we went to the Elks pool together, we shopped together, we sat in our yards together with inflatable pools, we went to rummage sales together, we would come to the lake together.... If we weren't together, we were on the phone. We would spend hours and hours and hours on the phone - we would look through Christmas Wish Books and talk about Christmas gifts....we would talk about Dr. appts, menu's, soap operas, child development, husbands, family, and our lives.

5. Empty Nests and other Mid-life crises - Angie and I have shared so much, our own weddings, our daughters school days and graduations, fledgling daughters moving on...our empty nests, my divorce, the loss of grandparents, fathers and her mother and sister-in-law, tragedy and joy... new babies and new homes - jobs and life. Ahhh - the circle of life - here we are ... How did we become our mother's age so fast??? The joy I've shared with my cousin - softens the growing pains of aging and I'm so thankful to have her in my life!

PS: HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY LAURA AND TARA - JULY 24, 1980!!!

and... Happy Birthday to Rex, too!!!