One glorious evening, while I was preparing myself for a date, I was borrowing my mother’s most expensive eye cream. I wasn’t allowed to use this, so I snuck very quietly into my mother’s room and applied it very carefully in the dark. I could barely see myself in her vanity mirror from the hall light illuminating behind me.
I could hear our tv going in the living room. I was aware that everyone was sitting together watching some sitcom of the 70’s. Was it Archie Bunker? Bionic Man? Who knows. I was busy. I had to get ready for my date.
I was quiet and content just doing my thing, then out of the shadows came my older sister. She busted out laughing so hard. I could see the mirror shake from her running down the hall to tell my parents.
My mother was so upset she was tight-lipped. I saw it in the other pictures. I remember her grabbing me by the arm to get me cleaned up. Spanking? Oh, you betcha!
From that point on I am a total blank. Can you say “bad girl”?
My father was laughing just as hard as my sister if that’s possible. My sister has the wicked witch cackle laugh, you can’t mistake it. Somewhere there’s a picture of my sister with her head tilted as far back as it will go, mouth wide open, hand on her gut.
My father took out his expensive camera and snapped away. I used to have a better quality photo, but it got lost in the move across the country. The photo that I’m showing here is one my father had over the years. He even made the frame. I need to put glass over the picture to protect it from fading any more.
Back to the story, my father brought this beautiful framed picture into our church as soon as he could. At time of announcements our pastor pulled it out and asked everyone in the congregation if they could guess who it was.
I put my face in my mother’s lap and cried.
