summer memories

every summer my family and i vacationed to texas, where all my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins lived. there were so many grandkids.. the first was born in 1969 and the last in 1995.. so there were lots of kids to play with, and lots of older kids to watch the younger ones :) i personally loved to hang around with the babies, as always. (a fact that hasn't changed about me!) between 1988 and 1992, there were 4 baby girls born who i just ADORED. i was in my early teenage years when they were infants and toddlers. i would go to texas by myself on spring breaks, and early in the summers before my whole family came, just so i could have extra time with those baby girls.

all my summers and vacations to texas were memorable for me, but one sticks out as one of those "where were you when 'this' happened" moments (such as.. when kennedy was shot (missed that one personally), the challenger exploded, diana died, the towers fell, you know).

so i was in austin, texas, august 1994. i arrived early, before my parents, so i could have extra time with those girls, like i said. i stayed at my aunt debbie's house for about a week. my aunt and uncle worked, and their older daughter went to a summer camp, so they left the baby, then just 2 years old, home from daycare so i could babysit. i was in heaven.. me alone with the baby for the majority of the morning, it was soooo much fun! she was the cutest little blonde and said and did the cutest little things. the first morning, debbie told me they would all be gone from the house before me and the baby woke up, but from the guest room, that i'd be able to hear her crying from her crib. sure enough, i heard her crying, but when i stepped out of the room, there was a big note on my aunts door saying "beth! shelby's in here!" i guess she had brought the baby down to her room and was letting her sleep in there, and didnt want me to go all the way upstairs and not see the baby in her crib, hehe! well.. shelby wasnt too happy that it was me who came to get her, instead of her mother. she was saying "mommy, mommy, mommy!" and i said "it's ok shelby, mommy went to work, but she'll be here later" and she started saying "mommy come back, shelby wants you!" hahah, awww. it was too cute! i followed her into every room and she looked for mommy and said that over and over. she calmed down eventually.. im just so charming, she warmed up to me fast. when i was making her lunch later that day, she was in her high chair, and i started singing "peanuuuuuuut, peanut butter..." and the SWEETEST little voice behind me yelled out "and jelly!" it was too stinkin cute.

later in that week, we were all down by the lake one evening. there were people BBQing and doing little mini-fireworks by the water (legal in texas). there was a family doing bottle-rockets near us, aiming them at the water. i dont even know how to describe them... just these little things you light and they're suppossed to go flying and make a big spark and then go out. well.. they miss-aimed, and one of them veered off to the side and hit shelby right in the back, on her shirt. there was the smallest little fire on her back.. my mom was screaming... FREAKING out screaming "the baby, OH MY GOD THE BABY THE BABY".. i guess i cant blame her, it was pretty scary, they arent really suppossed to "explode" but still, it was fire on her back! my uncle was right there though (her daddy) and he just placed her flat on the ground and the fire went out.. it didnt even touch her skin.. she was fine. but the people were of course apologizing and i guess we were all kinda saying "it shot out and hit shelby" and things like that. so later, shelby decided to tell her story herself, but she was only two.. you know two year olds mess up tenses.. so she kept saying "somebody shoot me!" hahah (instead of shot). it is just hilarious to hear a baby "asking" for someone to shoot her. anyway, it was fun and i will never forget those 3 cute things that she said.

sometime during that week, before my parents arrived, i was taking a shower at the house and when i finished, i grabbed the towel and felt like something bit me on the back. i looked down on the shower floor to try to see a bee or something... but i didnt see anything! i got out of the shower, towel still on me, and looked at my back in the mirror.. there was a big, larger than a quarter, red spot on my back. for whatever reason, i didnt freak out or cry.. i just got dressed and told my aunt, and she didnt really know what to say.. "just a spider maybe?" but when i told my uncle, he seemed more upset.. "something bit you?! what?!" and he went into the bathroom, took my towel down off the rack, and there was a SCORPION there!!!! i was bit by a scorpion!? are you serious?!?!?! well then my aunt felt absolutely awful.. and called my grandfather, who was a doctor. i know i would have felt awful too, if my niece or nephews were staying with me, and a flippin scorpion was on their towel and bit them! omg!! but my grandfather wasnt concerned either.. scorpions in texas arent like the ones in africa or anything.. im not allergic to bees, so probably not american scorpions either.. i just took some benedryl and we actually went to the mall.. heh. just another one for the books!!

also later in that week... we all stayed at the "valentine lodges".. a little lake resort with a heart-shaped pool and lakes big enough for water skiing with our family's many boats. this was the 2nd year that was able to get up on skiis.. i was pretty impressed with myself! but.. i also had some lovely bruises on my legs and knees, to go with the large scorpioin bite on my back. falling off skis is never gentle!

so it was august 25, 1994. a thursday. i had taken a pretty good fall that day.. hit the tip of the ski to a spot on my knee that was already bruised. we were nearing the end of the trip, and i was getting tired. i was standing on some sand, teling my mom how my knees hurt, and i felt the most awful stinging sensation on both my feet and ankles.. much worse than the scorpion, and i absolutely BURST into tears... FIRE ANTS. WOW.. those seriously hurt. they climb on you, send out a signal to each other, and all attack at once. well.. there came the water works.. i remember sitting on this little porch swing with my mom and just crying.. there it came.. the scorpion bite, the bruises, the fire ants.. all tears that never came with the other injuries were all built up and coming out at once.. i was making a bit of a scene, i guess.

i found out later.. on that sunday when we got back to new jersey.. that thursday, probably within the hour that i was bit by the ants and sobbing away, was the very afternoon that my best friend's mother lost her 8 year battle with breast cancer. my best friend and i were only 14.. raw, new, timid, teenage girls, at the time when you need your mother the most, she was lost. i missed the funeral which was that saturday, by 1 day... i know two of our girl friends and their families tried to figure out how to contact my family in texas, but never got us. this was before the age of cell phones, and valentine lodges was out in the boondocks of texas. i will never forgive myself for missing that funeral, and not being there for my friend when she needed me the most. but i also always know, i cried long and hard for her that day, even though at the time, i didnt know i was doing it.