Music City Sarah is doing a new series called Sweet Tea Social every Tuesday starting today. The idea behind it is to get back to how things were when families would sit on the front porch with glasses of sweet tea and tell stories about their childhood. I've got plenty of stories to tell, so I figured I'd do it along with her.
After I was born, my mom was starting to look at daycares so she could go back to work. She never found one she just loved, and she was having a really hard time with it. So, my Papa just said well bring her over here and I'll watch her. So, that's what happened. Every single day I went to Papa's house and stayed all day. We did everything together. He taught me how to walk, and he taught me how to pee in a bush standing up. (I wasn't aware that girls didn't do that sort of thing till much later in life.) When Ross came along, I was 3. So, after he was born we both went over there all day. When he was a baby, we didn't get in much trouble. I would color all day. And we would wait outside for the ice cream truck to come by so I could get a blue popsicle EVERY day.
After Ross got older, the trouble began. It was around the time I went to school that Nana retired from the bank. So, her and Papa both were at home with Ross all day while I went to school. Papa would come get me from school, and that 's when the fun really started. Me and Ross figured out that certain things would 1) make Nana really mad and 2) make Papa laugh hysterically cause Nana was mad.
We spent a few years perfecting our skills, and in the middle of all of that Payton came along. Well, when Payton was little you could talk him into doing anything, so he was the perfect little brother to me and Ross. Nana and Papa had a cherry tree in their back yard. Nana was convinced that birds were eating her cherries so she had Papa cover it with a tarp so the birds couldn't get to it. That tarp didn't stop me and the boys though. We'd get under the tarp and just sit there and eat cherries all day long. Nana still thought it was birds. She tore the tree down because she thought it was still the birds, and I don't think we've told her it was us yet.
We would also sit in the bottom of her grandfather clock so that it wouldn't chime when it was supposed to. She'd realize it didn't chime and come running to find out what was wrong. And, she'd find one of us with our faces pressed up against the glass.
But, I think our best one was ALL Ross' idea. Nana and Papa slept in separate bedrooms, because Papa had lung cancer and leukemia and would end up coughing all night and keep Nana up. So, we spent most of our time in Papa's bedroom cause he didn't care if we messed it up as much as Nana did. Ross came up with the idea that they should pour baby powder down the air vents. He had Payton call Nana and then they all stood there looking at the air vent. Nana was so confused. Ross finally heard the heat kick on and said "Here it comes!" Nana barely got "Here what comes?" out of her mouth before they were all covered in white baby powder after the cloud came up out of the vent. I think that's the maddest I've ever seen Nana. And Papa was just sitting in his chair laughing as hard as he could. Those were the good old days, and I miss my Papa more than anyone else in this world. But, I know he's having fun rocking babies in heaven.
xo,
Hanna
