Cousin Letter 1

3/09/2024

Ronnie,

You and I have the bond of being closer in age to each other than we are to any other cousin.

I remember the girlfriend of one of our cousins from a few years ago remarking “you don’t have friends; you just have cousins”. An interesting and possibly astute observation. Perhaps it should be given the caveat of “special friends who are cousins”. I suspect there are many things we might confide in or share with one of our cousins that we would not to other friends, siblings or even spouses. Sometimes as I watch my own grandchildren, who are clustered in a narrow age range, and think — the same will likely be true for them as well.

One of my grandchildren surrounded by toys recently asked me “What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?”

My answer “dirt”

The only actual plaything I remember without really thinking about is dirt. We played in the dirt with our toy tractors and trucks just outside of Grandma’s yard. We played in the dirt and sometimes the mud beside the flowing well at the rock house where I lived. We sometimes extracted the cow patties from our play areas but mostly I think we just played around them.

I was probably a teenager before I realized that dirt is not the natural color of fingernails as mine were never any other color. After mom fell and was hospitalized; I remember being at her bedside within the first couple of days. I noticed that there was still dirt under her fingernails. I smiled as I thought she was gardening (playing in the dirt) quite recently.

Terry