The Talented Friend

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a friend that I am blessed to call my talented friend!! I am late as usual, but I guess I have the holidays to blame!!

You have always been in my life! Since you are my cousin who is only 1 year and 3 months older than me, I only have family memories with you in them! You were always at the kids' dinner table with me, were always willing to let me share your bed when we visited Ohio, and were always there for a good laugh!

I used to love eating Christmas dinner with you at Grammie and Granddaddy's house. We always thought we were high society putting a cinnamon stick in our tea...that was until we went low society by interviewing each other using our eating utensils as microphones or making bread people out of our bread. Oh and there was "One the sandbox..." that always made us die laughing at the dinner table for some reason! I would pay good money to be able to sit at the dinner table at Grammie and Granddaddy's old house on Old Sawmill. I wouldn't even mind the cigarette smoke smell! I would love to touch the fuzzy wallpaper one more time! I am sure the house would seem so much smaller to me now, but growing up I always thought it was a mansion. Sorry to digress!

I have many Christmas morning memories with you as well. We often had to open our gifts from Grammie and Granddaddy at the same time because we got the same present. Whether it was matching sweaters or dolls, we didn't mind getting the same thing. You were definitely the closest thing I had to a sister, so I thought it was exciting to match you. There is a one picture that sticks out in my mind where we are wearing matching bright turquoise t-shirts that say "Texas" on the front corner. We were styling!! Christmas at Grammie and Granddaddy's also often ended with me receiving a teeny bopper board game in the early 90s. I remember loving playing Dream Phone, Mall Madness, and Girl Talk with you!!

Other wonderful memories with you include hunting for snipes with Granddaddy. Boy he tricked us! Then there was the card playing that always took place when we all got together. I am thankful that I was exposed to all these poker games, and it was always fun to get to choose which game to play when we were the dealer. Poor David always wanted to play "In Between the Sheets" which we never wanted to play. I would also pay good money to hear Granddaddy say, "Nothing is wild but the dealer!" I also miss playing "Penny Poker" with Grammie and the wonderful old coffee can (think it was Yuban brand) that was full of coins! I'm making us sound like we belong to Gamblers Anonymous, but I also have wonderful memories from our Las Vegas trip with Grammie and Heather. We truly lived it up! You taught me how to play Blackjack, and I got addicted to your little cheat card that always told me what to do. I think we may need to return to that city together sometime.

Getting to the title of my blog post, you are my talented friend! We are very different in the fact that you perform and do wonderfully on stage while I would rather take a beating than get up in front of people and perform. You are such a talented actress and singer. I loved getting to hear you sing Ave Maria at David and Joy's wedding this summer.

I am so proud of how successful you have been in your career. You were so brave to move to the Big Apple...and to stay there (even after 9/11). I admire how you aren't afraid to move jobs and have moved up the ranks quickly in your career.

I had such a wonderful time visiting you in NYC after I graduated from A&M. It is always a pleasure to hang out with you because you have such a fun-loving and easygoing personality. Your laugh is wonderful! I truly wish we got to see each other more often. Maybe you need to attend a conference in DFW soon! Or maybe we need to plan a vacation together!!

I thank God for placing you in my family and for having a cousin that I love so dearly!! Although my children (if I ever get married!?!) probably won't be close in age to their cousins, I pray that they love each other as much as I love you!