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Dusting Off the Family Skeletons

A Holiday in Scotland
Klytie's Memory

Spit rain splashed against the car window as we drove down the wrong side of the road. Trees littered the green, hilly landscape and the sky was overcast as usual. We were in England traveling to Scotland on what the Brits would call a “holiday”.

The twisting roads put a burning lump in my throat; if the car didn’t quit turning and going up and down I would surely throw up.We entered a very woody area and continued on and on across the slick black road squishing a few frogs as we went. Soon, we came to a country region where people had little farms scattered about. It was then that we saw the cows.

Since we were so little at the time, it seemed like there were millions of cow grazing in the field. Even now I have the vision of a thousand cows scattered over the landscape.Caving into our excited screams and pleas, my dad stopped the car along a fence and let us out to say hello to the cattle. He just so happened to park next to a cow who just wouldn’t tolerate bystanders.

My sister and I watched wide-eyed as the cow stood haughtily with its back side toward us. I come to the conclusion of my story as my sister exclaimed, “Whoa!! That’s a big butt!”

Lavender's Prayer
Ivory's Memory

Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf coast destroying many homes, and two of those homes were owned by my family members; one my aunt and uncle and the other by my great-grandmother. For a few months the power was out, and the tremendous amount of wind blew a tree over on top of my great-grandmother’s bedroom roof. So my aunt and grandma brought her up to visit us in South Carolina while her roof was being fixed.We went to Beaufort, S.C., and visited Granny’s old childhood home. After a tiring day of touring in Beaufort and a very long drive home we all relaxed on the couch. Lavender asked my Aunt Beth to read her a bedtime story since we rarely got to see them at our house. The rest of us sat on the couch waiting for Lavender to be tucked away in bed so we could watch a movie. My Aunt came back and my mom went to give Lavender a kiss and have her pray.

As my Aunt sat down, she said “Lavender’s so cute, I bet she is dreaming of pink clouds and ponies” At that moment my mom came laughing down the hallway, “Guess what she just prayed for! She said ‘Dear God, I pray that I can have Fire to shoot out of my hands so I can destroy the town so I can be the hero and save the people.’” We all laughed “She's not dreaming about ponies and pink clouds,” my mom continued, “she’s dreaming about her fire hands from God!”

Boogers and Beans
Mom’s Memory

It was a hot summer day in Arkansas. All of our friends were gathered at our house for some event long forgotten. It was probably Super bowl Sunday…but, that’s not important. What’s important is a little red bag of jelly beans.

Klytie was about seven and Ivory was about four years old when we bought the bag of beans. Everyone , except the men who were either outside grilling or glued to the TV, huddled around to grab a jelly bean and read the little book of flavors. However, you must know that this was not an ordinary bag of jelly beans. No, this one was special and full of unpleasant surprises. Have you guessed what kind they are? Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans. Back when Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone movie first came out, the stores were stocked full of them.

While the hot sun and cool breezed poured through the open windows and doors we all gathered in the kitchen. Everyone was looking for the grossest flavor they could find; there was grass, dirt, earwax, horse radish, and the one we dubbed as the nastiest, booger. Finally, we found it, the booger flavored jelly bean. Mom’s friend, Bridget, was the one who found it, so it was anonymous that she should eat it.

It was then that Ivory came in the kitchen, she climbed onto the counter and searched though the little bag. Someone asked what she was looking for and she replied, “A booger one!” They told her that Ms. Bridget had already eaten it and poor Ivory cried out in anguish. “Why did you want it anyway?” Bridget asked, “It was disgusting!” No,” Ivory explained, “I like boogers!”