Cathy and Me

Cathy and I always found ourselves in trouble. Being my sister, only 18 months younger, we were each other’s best friend. We loved to build forts out of the living room cushions and some very sturdy blankets. We even had dinner in our “secret” space. That was, of course, until we spilled our delicious bowl of spaghetti and homemade meatballs. It ended up as a stringy mess of sauce and meatballs. Cathy and I said together, “Oh, no,” as Mom and Dad came rushing in. Needless to say, that was the end of our fort-building for awhile.

Next up, we almost got kidnapped. Yes, you read that correctly. We were visiting our sweet, loving grandmother and we were allowed to walk to Heritage’s store for some treats. On our way back, four men dressed in black trench coats, of all things typical, and pulled their car right to the curb where we were. One of the men in the backseat, held the door open, and demanded we get into their beat-up Cadillac.

At that point, I screamed, “Cathy, RUN!” We ran as fast as our legs would carry us. As I was in the lead, I kept looking back to make sure that my little sister was still behind me. During the first time I looked back, I also noticed that the Caddy was gone. We ran all way back to grandma’s house. There we told our mom and our grandma.

Another time, we were driving, actually Mom was driving, when Cathy opened her door and was hanging on for dear life. I reached over her and happened to look down as I stretched to reach the door handle, and saw the road racing under us. By that time, Mom saw what had happened. With all my strength, I pulled the door shut. Then Mom was able to stop the car and check on us.

Mom went into a cleaners to pick up Dad’s shirt, leaving us in the car (when it was legal). Cathy decided, about age six, she wanted to drive our beaver car. You know, with the wooden paneling on the sides. Cathy was as happy as pie “driving” the car, pushing and pulling the knobs. That is until she touched the gear shifts and we slowly started moving backwards! I jumped into the front, nevermind that I had no idea what I was doing. I tried every knob I could, but I couldn’t stop the car. Just then, a Good Samaritan jumped in and stopped our beaver, just as Mom came running out.

As if that weren’t enough, our parents took us to the shore. Cathy and I loved to sit in the water and let the waves roll over our heads. However, a cross current pulled us out to where we couldn’t reach the sandy bottom. Cathy panicked and grabbed my head and pushed me under the water. I fought to surface, and when I did, I told Cathy to hold me around my neck. I could barely breathe, but I tried to swim us to shore. I was making headway when I saw my dad running towards us. We had reached the point where we could walk again, and Dad and the lifeguard reached us. Cathy and I never played that game again.

We had a lot of fun and troubles growing up, but I wouldn’t change my little sister for the world; after all, I love her!

1 John 4:18a – There is no fear in love; for perfect love casteth out fear… (KJV)