THE GIRL IN ME

1-3-09...THE GIRL IN ME

Sometimes I look in a mirror and think, Who in the world is that ol' wrinkled up prune? Where the heck did that smoothe faced, black haired, skinny little girl go. In my heart I'm still that girl growing up. Hey I'm still here I want to shout at that dad' burned mirror. Stop lying to me, come on now, that aint me. And it don't have to be me that I see there in the mirror. I can be that girl again anytime I want to if I keep her alive. Sure nuff can. So there you ol' mirror. I don't have to listen to you. NOPE!
That girl was lively, no aches and pains, no worries either. Well by golly I'm 64 and I've earned the right to be a girl again. Oh yes, I see the little smiles on younger ones faces when I make a blunder or say somethin' stupid, or forget their name, Again! What the heck do they know. They wouldn't know where to start to live my life. Nope! You whippersnappers you couldn't begin to walk in my shoes.
I remember one cold night when no matter what I did I couldn't get warm. Mama had put a hot water bottle at my feet but the rest of me was cold. She wrapped it in a towel because it had boiling water inside and was too hot not wrapped. Well I decided to unwrap the dad burned thing and snuggle with it. My little brother was in the bed too. None of us slept by ourselves. It was warmer to have two in the bed. Sometimes we all slept in the floor in the front room in front of the little heater. This night I crawled under the covers and got the wrapped hot water bottle. I lifted it up and proceeded to unwrap it. Heck fire that sucker was hot. I couldn't snuggle with that thing. I pushed it over between my brother and me. Sometime later I moved and flopped right down on that bottle. Let me tell you I flopped up a bunch quicker than I flopped down! OWWW! As I jumped I hit my head on the head board and Owww! again. My little Brother (two at the time) came awake screechin' and hitin'. Mama and Daddy came on the scene then and restored order but I had a bump on my head, scratches on my arm, and a burn on my fanny.
Then there were the mornings in that ol' toilet in the field. Cold mornins' it almost hurt to sit down on that durn hole, summer mornins' you was'a'liable to get a red wasp on your butt which brought ya' up screamin' and fightin' that durn thing. Same ol' problems havin' to wait. Four in the family and whoever else might be there. A one seater toilet. Like one bathroom today but at least y'all are inside.
Things were hard back then but I was that young girl that I still have here inside me. As I get older I dig her out more often. She will never go away. When she is here I have my Family here too. Mama, Daddy, Granny and Grandpa, My little Brother, Brenda and I skipping along those ol' dirt roads and experiencing the most awesome time of our lives. I don't want to ever lose that girl. She is what made the woman I am now. As long as she is here I don't have to worry about lookin' in that lying mirror. Nope! I know that girl and I cherish her life. And I aint'a'gonna let her escape me. NOPE!!!