i warned you of my imperfection. i forgot three very important women throughout my college years...
kathy, ashley, and tara...
and no these are not charlie’s angels... these are not adam’s ex-girlfriends who i poisoned in order to win his heart... these are not the roommates who ran screaming away because i talked to much in the morning...
kathy was a working mom and ashley was her 7 year old daughter and tara, her four year old daughter. and kathy put up a notice for “babysitter needed” on the furman bulletin board and for some unknown reason, i took that notice down and called her.
i went over and interviewed with kathy and john and for some other inexplicable reason they loved me and hired me. and so for almost three years every weekday afternoon, i was with ashley and tara. their home was right outside furman’s back gate so i walked or rode my bike to their house. once i had a car, i picked up tara from her preschool class and then waited for ashley to come home on the bus.
i made afterschool snacks, pizza dinners, halloween costumes, ran a lot of water for baths, did lots of homework, threw a few elementary class christmas parties in the local elementary school, and sang a lot of “you are my sunshine”. i played house and i LOVED it.
in fact i was so darn good at it that i have made it a career now. and expanded my singing repertoire to include several broadway hits and added a boy to the mix of the two girls. making me the figurehead of the marshall household....
i made it look like so much fun that when i graduated, kathy quit her job to stay at home full time. she muttered something under her breath like...
“no one will ever be as good as lea, so i better ante up.”
or else she said,
“lea has ruined these kids and it will take a miracle for them to turn out normal.”
it was hard to hear through her tears....
one thing that the vernon family did for me every year was to have a birthday dinner in my honor. they invited their whole extended family and we ate in their dining room. it made me feel so special to have a home cooked meal and a whole family seated around the table whilst i blew out candles. and it is a tradition that i have tried to carry on with various and sundry college students who have been in our lives. we have had a lot of birthday dinners. a lot of candles blown out. a lot of wishes made around our table. a lot of things muttered under breath like...
“i wish i could be just like lea marshall when i grow up”
or maybe they said,
“i wish she had bought a cake instead of making one, this thing is HORRIBLE.”
it is hard to hear through their tears....
jojo’s birthday party at my house...
modeled after the ones that the vernon family threw for me (notice how my parents are at her party)... i also threw jojo a great “lord of the rings” 21st birthday party with a cool cake and ring themed games. but i couldn’t find those photos on snapfish this morning... what year was that jojo? why can’t i find those photos..... why is the scrapbook store closing... stay tuned for more questions like these....