This is old news, but it was a big event for my family, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t write about it.
If you happened to read the comments on my September 23, 2008 post (the last one I wrote before falling out of the blogosphere and onto the end of my sofa for an extended period of time), then you know that my sister and her family spent a few days with me when they evacuated their East Texas homes to escape the winds and waters of Hurricane Ike. As close as we are emotionally, we’re just far enough apart geographically that we hadn’t managed an in-person visit in the three years between Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. I was delighted that the winds blew them in this direction.
It made me feel good that they were willing to “hunker down” here, all of them having lived through this experience during Katrina and knowing full well that my house isn’t the most comfortable port in a storm. I have two bedrooms and one bath, plenty of room when I’m by myself, but with six extra adults, two teenagers, a five-year-old, a two-year-old, an 11-month old, three extra dogs, tons of luggage, and a few air mattresses, we were stacked like cordwood.
It was great. Tight but great.
It’s rare that I’m around small children anymore, so it was a special treat to watch the little ones. The baby learned to walk while he was here. He looked so proud of himself as he took steps from one person to another, pausing in between walks to accept our enthusiastic applause.
And, on the same weekend that Tina Fey did her first spot-on impression of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, my sister’s two-year-old granddaughter won the impersonation contest at our house. After CNN aired video of one Galveston, Texas girl who survived the storm, our own little comic regaled us with her impromptu interpretation of what she’d just witnessed on TV. For the remainder of the visit, she’d scrunch up one side of her face on command and say, in her best gravelly voice, “Sep in CAAAAWSET!”
They’ve been gone a month and a half now, and I still miss them.
How Sweet! Those little ones can be so perceptive!
ReplyDeleteVelvet I think I would enjoy staying at your house...
ReplyDeleteI'm probably dull from not enough coffee but I can't figure out what she's saying!
ReplyDeleteCreekhiker, they come in small packages, but they don't miss a thing.
ReplyDelete4th Sister, if my messy house didn't drive you crazy (I remember Patsy writing that you're the "clean sister", then I'm sure we could have a really good time.
Janet, she was imitating the little girl in the video, who said about the night of the hurricane, "I slept in the closet." Watch the video (even if you can't hear it), and you'll see the funny expression on the little girl's face. The face and the scratchy voice were what captured our two-year-old's attention.