34 years ago, on my 8th birthday (September 13th), my friend Renee Cannon approached to me on the playground. She had another girl with her, I had never seen her before.
"Isn't today your birthday?" she asked me.
"Yeah." I replied.
"It's her birthday too!" she pointed to the other girl.
This was the beginning of a 34 year friendship. The other girls was Tracie Dowdell. It was a little quirky...we were both named Tracy/Tracie and we were born on the same day, September 13th (I always have to let people know that she is the oldest of the 2 of us). The teachers couldn't call one of us Tracy/Tracie "D", because we were both Tracy/Tracie "D", Drummer/Dowdell. I think at some point my mom started calling us Tracy 1 and Tracie 2. My dad always called Tracie by her full name, Tracie Gardell (yes, he pronounced it wrong for 30+ years). We were so inseparable, that many people just assumed that we were sisters (we had plenty of stories of why we were both named the same name).
I believe that Tracie may know every one of my secrets and understands me as if I were truly her twin. We have only had 1 real fight in our 34 years together. It lasted a few months and I believe we were both miserable without each other.
I was the first of the two of us to have children, in fact I had already popped out my 2 by the time she decided to have children. So, there is a significant difference in age with our children. She has always been there for my girls and has watched them grow up, attended concerts, plays, birthday parties and graduations. Now that her children are getting a little older, it will be my turn to show up for the games, plays, parties and stuff.
I am their Tia. Tracie decided when her first child was born, that she did not want me to be an "auntie" so, I got a more creative, fancy name...Tia (aunt in Spanish). It may be that it is the only word we remembered from high school Spanish, but has stuck with me for all 3 of them.
Today was Tia's first time EVER babysitting Tracie's children. Her little girl cries every time she sees my face. The boys adore me slightly more. I get plenty of hugs and kisses from them when I see them. I was pretty nervous about this gig today. When was the last time I had a babysitting job and when was the last time I was responsible for small children?!
Well, everyone survived the day! I must say, I'm a pretty cool Tia and a pretty awesome babysitter!
First I made some lunch for the kids while they played Wii and Barbies. We all ate lunch together at the table (they had buttered or cheesy noodles with apples, I had a salad). Then I prepared our ingredients for our dessert...homemade ice cream! We went out into the yard to mix up our ingredients and get to shaking out ice cream up. 20 minutes later, we were sharing a batch of vanilla ice cream and sipping on some chocolate shakes (ice cream we lost patience with).
"Can we go to the park now Tia?" "Of course!" I gathered up the stroller, some trucks and a few bottles of water and off we went! Our park trip lasted about a half hour before there were some yawns and tired faces. We returned home for a pull-up change, a nap, snacks and a few more Wii games.
The time went quickly...thank goodness. Although they were perfect little children, I am no longer the mother of little ones. I do not have the energy to entertain all day, it's hard work! I don't know how Tracie
does it!
Where are my children at right now? listening to music, writing in their journal, on facebook, entertaining themselves in their rooms...ahhh!
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