Emmy Lou is one of my favorite cousins and we are good friends. She remembers taking care of me when I was little and she got shipped off to my young parents for the summer. The pattern of cheap babysitters and delegation to younger relatives began then...
I visited her and her partner regularly over the years, even after I had moved abroad. The long car drive down to her part of the world was just the beginning of each enjoyable visit. I find long drives on my own relaxing and even perhaps grounding. Especially when I get overwhelmed by the hordes, not that I do not love them. However, going from a solitary life to a small army can sometimes be a shock to the system.
Emmy Lou is a no-nonsense, hard working, sound individual--with a biting sense of humor, which of course is a trait I appreciate. While she is at work, I potter around her house, a place of peace and refuge for me. Sitting in her back garden and enjoying the sunshine (the novelty!), smoking a cigarette, I contemplate whatever the current state of affairs is with me. Even 6,000 miles away I can picture sitting there and return to that peaceful feeling.
I do try to help out a bit so I am not just lounging around the whole time. I give her a break from the cooking. Pets, however, she is on her own with. Emmy Lou has her set routines, both morning and evening. Most mornings I try to wake up early so that we can chat while she is getting ready; evenings once she has completed some of her chores and grabbed a beer, we resume our chats.
We have decided that we will both retire to the same island. As close as we are, I don't think we should do the Golden Girls thing and share a home... perhaps being next-door neighbors will suffice. We will be the female versions of her dad and her uncle, running amok on the island till we are old and cranky. We draw the line at making that rotgut home-brewed wine that the two men used to guzzle though. Rocket fuel.
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