Where I'm From Part 1: Let's Reminisce for a Minute

Looking at this picture sure brings back a whole mess of memories. Just thinking about them all makes me start thinkin' in a southern drawl...not to mention practically being able to smell my mama's home cookin' in the air. Ahhh...man, I think I just gained ten pounds...damn those high calorie thoughts!

When I was a toddler, I was everyone's baby girl. Of course I was my mama's. She used to say she had to squeeze me the tightest to keep me little as long as she could because I was her last baby. After I was born, the doctor told her she wouldn't be able to have any more babies. She never acted sad about it, said it was meant to be and all...but Aunt Z told me one time that after the doctor told her the news there was a change in her...something that might not be noticeable to just anyone, but she and Daddy could tell...her heart broke a little bit that day and never quite healed.

I remember my big sister, Lila. There's kind of a hefty age difference between us. She was a teenager when I was a toddler...so she was kind of like another mom to me...after Mama and Aunt Z. She was a great big sister, even though we couldn't be more different. She has Mama's light brown hair color and she came out looking like Mama and Daddy jumped in a bag, jumped around for awhile, getting their genetics all mixed up, and out she popped. She's your typical Type A personality. She is pretty much perfect...I am most definitely not.

This is my older brother, Keaton. When I was a toddler, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Mama never medicated him like all his teachers, doctors, and pretty much everyone in town begged her to. She said no one was going to medicate her son just to make their lives easier. Personally, I would have drugged up the little pest quicker than you could see somethin' shiny...but that's just me...being his little sister and all, I was the one he so frequently tortured. Keaton looks mostly like a male version of Mama.

Here's a closer picture of me. I was probably the most spoiled. Of course, I am a carbon copy of my daddy, down to the freckles on my cheeks.

Then there was my daddy. Daddy and I bonded early on and I suppose a part of me is always going to be my daddy's girl. Everyone used to tell me when I was a baby, the only person that could ever get me to stop crying was Daddy. He would scoop me up and rock me until I went to sleep. Daddy worked at the school. He was a substituted teacher when I was born, but he advanced quickly.

Mama mostly stayed home, but she was a writer...so after she got us all up and off to school, then cleaned the house, she would sit down and write...I remember finding her at the computer most days when I got home from school.

Like I said before, this is a picture of my Aunt Z's family. They lived across the street from us.

Aunt Z had been Mama's best friend since they were school-aged. I spent just as much time at her house as I did mine while I was growing up. Sometimes they tag-teamed parenting all five of us...Mama talked to all of us about the birds and the bees and Aunt Z talked to all of us about fiscal responsibility and education. I'm not sure which conversation was harder.
Aunt Z was a writer like Mama. She was also better at editing and checking for spelling and grammatical errors. There wasn't a single paper I turned in during school that Aunt Z didn't make bleed first.

Aunt Z was married to Uncle T-Bone. We called him that because every time he came to our house, that's what Mama would have to fix for dinner. It was his favorite meal and neither he nor Aunt Z can cook. Needless to say, they spent lots of dinners at our house. Uncle T-Bone worked as a lieutenant in the law enforcement career. He was one of those guys that always had a smile on his face and a joke on his tongue. He and Daddy spent a lot of weekends down at the fishin' hole.

Mason is their son. He's really smart and probably one of the kindest people I have ever met. He and Keaton hung out together, but he would always take care of him and Evie and me if we ever needed him.

That cute little girl is their daughter, Evie. She and I were destined to be best friends. Our moms frequently sat us down to play together. She is just as spoiled as I am, which is normally a volatile combination, but somehow we made it work.

There are so many pictures of Evie and me playing together...this is one of them...I am pretty sure I was bragging about my doll...

Time moved on...this is Mama and me on my birthday...

Turquoise has been my favorite color for a long time...hehe, looking at this picture makes me realize that sneaky look must be hereditary!

I was givin' someone a mean mug here...maybe they were trying to take my cake!

After I aged into a child and got Daddy's hot-headed trait, we argued a lot...so our relationship wasn't as good.

Evie's birthday was right after mine...

Daddy must have just made a joke...Uncle T-Bone was cracking up!

This is Evie's bedroom...we spent so much time in here!

Evie slept over at my house a lot too...this was taken on Lila's birthday...

That's an awfully satisfied grin from my over-achieving sister...I guess she should be...she had straight A's, was prom queen, editor of the school newspaper, and volunteered at the hospital. Geez, no wonder I always felt inferior!

Meanwhile, Evie and I were just excited for cake...I think I solved the mystery of why she and I are both on the chunky side now...hehe

Lila is so beautiful...looking into her face always makes me happy...not only because she's my sister, but because I see Mama and Daddy there as well.

Mama and Daddy were both so proud at her graduation.

I was proud of her too...Keaton was there, but he was running around in circles somewhere...I swear...if I had been Mama, I would have lost my patience.

Lila met her husband, Brad Gossett soon after that and they were married quickly.

Mama bawled her eyes out...

So did Daddy...

Ok, so did I...

Keaton wasn't so easily moved...or he was just watching the trees blow behind them...

Keaton got a bit more sullen as he aged into a teenager...

Mason's birthday came and went too...he just got nicer the older he got.

Of course, Daddy and Uncle T-Bone took their boys fishing on Saturday mornings which really appealed to Keaton.

The more I dig into my past, the more I start remembering why I left in the first place...why I felt like I had to leave. Now that I look back, I realize I didn't have to be so haste in my decision to leave, but at the time I felt I had no choice.