The two oldest of four sisters in our family
Lena and I were less than two years apart
Being girls, we learned housework very young
Mastering cooking, cleaning and sewing from the start
We usually got into the worst of our mischief
At the times when Mother was gone to Williamson
Like the day we tried to smoke green corn silk
Wrapped in brown paper bag and we both turned green
Another time we were actually fighting over a toy
After spankings, we each had to sit behind a bed
Big brother laughed and jokingly asked, "Who whipped?"
Through sobs and sniffles, Lena answered, "Mommy did!"
Mother forbade us to jitterbug in public
We learned to dance by watching "Bandstand"
If we were mad at each other, one of us wore gloves
Each avoiding touching the other's hands
One thing we agreed on was our singing
And we always made a pretty fair duet
We sang at the bus stop and while doing chores
Those are times that I'll never forget
As kids, we couldn't get the hang of making good fudge
Though, goodness knows, when Mother was gone we tried
Always wondering why her sugar disappeared so fast
We kept mum to keep our fannies from getting fried
One year, as teenagers, we each made a pair of shorts
The hardest part was in getting to wear them
Mother didn't want us showing our legs
"Trollops" wore shorts and she couldn't bear them
She finally relented and let us go one day
Up the hollow to sun in a secluded clearing
We had to wear skirts over them there and back
'Cause Mother was afraid of boys' leering
Feeling rebellious and thinking Mother couldn't see us
We left our skirts off 'til we got down the hollow a bit
When we reached the lane that led back to our house
Out popped Mother with a long, keen switch
She made use of that switch on the calves of our legs
And we never found out how she knew what we had done
We figured one of our three brothers had snitched
But couldn't blame them, 'cause they were in Matewan
We learned a lot of valuable lessons from our parents
And, in later years, came to realize we were blessed
Working hard, making do and sometimes doing without
Made us stronger people as we each left the nest
Lena and I didn't see each other often enough
After we married and each had families of our own
I still replay our last conversation in my head
Oh, how I still wish that I had known...
(She died a few days later on October 31, 2003.)
Kathleen McCoy Eldridge©
October 20, 2007
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