COUSINS
February 29, 2016
By Olivene Godfrey
Tam's beloved dad passed away a few days ago. She will mourn for him the rest of her life, but time will soften the pain. Tam told me that she and her brother Mike were discussing the many cousins who had come to the funeral home to pay their respect. And Tam and Mike both agreed they should have a cousin reunion.
Thinking of cousins, I remembered how many first cousins I had and Lord only knows the second and third ones. I was close to only two cousins who were my age.
The cousin on my mother's side of the family was called "brother" by most relatives. His older sister had given him that name when he was a toddler and the entire family called him that. I was his age and only had sisters so this cousin and I became "buddies".
When brother and I were about 10 years old our families gave each of us 50 cents on Saturday mornings. This was indeed the innocent age. Brother's family lived in Rossville which adjoins Chattanooga, Tennessee. My family were one of the first to buy lots in East Ridge, which is also on the outskirts of Chattanooga.
On Saturday morning, I would take a bus ride to downtown Chattanooga near the grand Tivoli Theater. Brother took a bus from Rossville and joined me near the theater. We would go to a small lunch shop and order hot dogs and a "double cola" as it was a larger bottle than coca cola. Then we went to a dime store and purchased small bags of candy. Then we went to the movies at the Tivoli, and stayed until it was time for us to go home.
As we grew older, we still were close. Brother went into the US Army and when I married, he got a weekend pass to attend my wedding. I wrote him often. Later he lived in Indiana. He and his wife had several children who he loved very much. When he passed away, I grieved for him.
On my daddy's side, there were many cousins, I was close to a girl my age. Our families visited our grandparent's farm in Middle Tennessee often. The outhouse was a long distance from the farm house. There were delicious grapes on grapevines along the way which we sampled often. When my 13 year old female cousin and I would go together to the outhouse, we would tell each other the latest "dirty jokes" we had heard in the previous weeks. We were innocent young girls and our jokes were pretty silly.
But, looking back, there were a lot of good times with my cousins.
See you next time. Comments welcome. (Edited and typed by Tam.)
By Olivene Godfrey
Tam's beloved dad passed away a few days ago. She will mourn for him the rest of her life, but time will soften the pain. Tam told me that she and her brother Mike were discussing the many cousins who had come to the funeral home to pay their respect. And Tam and Mike both agreed they should have a cousin reunion.
Thinking of cousins, I remembered how many first cousins I had and Lord only knows the second and third ones. I was close to only two cousins who were my age.
The cousin on my mother's side of the family was called "brother" by most relatives. His older sister had given him that name when he was a toddler and the entire family called him that. I was his age and only had sisters so this cousin and I became "buddies".
When brother and I were about 10 years old our families gave each of us 50 cents on Saturday mornings. This was indeed the innocent age. Brother's family lived in Rossville which adjoins Chattanooga, Tennessee. My family were one of the first to buy lots in East Ridge, which is also on the outskirts of Chattanooga.
On Saturday morning, I would take a bus ride to downtown Chattanooga near the grand Tivoli Theater. Brother took a bus from Rossville and joined me near the theater. We would go to a small lunch shop and order hot dogs and a "double cola" as it was a larger bottle than coca cola. Then we went to a dime store and purchased small bags of candy. Then we went to the movies at the Tivoli, and stayed until it was time for us to go home.
As we grew older, we still were close. Brother went into the US Army and when I married, he got a weekend pass to attend my wedding. I wrote him often. Later he lived in Indiana. He and his wife had several children who he loved very much. When he passed away, I grieved for him.
On my daddy's side, there were many cousins, I was close to a girl my age. Our families visited our grandparent's farm in Middle Tennessee often. The outhouse was a long distance from the farm house. There were delicious grapes on grapevines along the way which we sampled often. When my 13 year old female cousin and I would go together to the outhouse, we would tell each other the latest "dirty jokes" we had heard in the previous weeks. We were innocent young girls and our jokes were pretty silly.
But, looking back, there were a lot of good times with my cousins.
See you next time. Comments welcome. (Edited and typed by Tam.)
