Friday, March 10, 2023
To my “Favorite Cuz”
We used to call each other that for as long as I can remember. Growing up, our families lived close so either we were over her house or they were over mine. With both of us being the youngest (she is 6 years older than me, though) we were more like brother and sister. We did things together. Of all the memories, my 3 favorite are 1) I was around 5 or 6 - Kim had this “toy” called Thingmaker Creepy Crawlers - basically a hot plate that you added metal molds to of worms, and centipedes, spiders (you get the idea); pour in the colored goo and in a few minutes you had a rubber creepy crawly. And of course, we threw them at each other. On a safety note - she always poured the goo in the mold. She didn’t want her “favorite cuz” getting burned. Fast forward 10 years, memory 2) I was close to getting my drivers permit; Kim came up to visit my Mom/Dad and me - she had a little Datsun hatchback with a manual transmission. Knowing I was chomping at the bit to drive stick, we ended up in an empty lot of a local shopping center, me in the drivers seat, bucking, stalling and both of us laughing hysterically. She didn’t care that I was grinding gears and more or less trashing her clutch. Memory 3) A couple of years ago, she invited me over and asked me if I wanted anything special. “Icebox cake” I said rather impulsively and mostly jokingly. Growing up, my Mother would make her version of icebox cake - chocolate or vanilla pudding, graham crackers and sliced bananas. We could never get enough. After my Mom’s passing, it more less passed with her. Living up to her title as “Favorite Cuz”, Kim presented me with both vanilla and chocolate pudding icebox cakes. What’s left to say… I will miss you cuz. Your love, laughter, patience, craziness and of course icebox cake - it’s all of you and part of me. Forever.
