Friday, January 4, 2008

A Memory

I have two sisters.

N, is thirty, count 'em, thirty years older than me. We don't have a whole lot in common, other than our father, also N. When I was small, my parents each were taking care of their ailing parents, as well as me. I was thinking about this a few days ago, and I remember one very specific morning in particular.

N (sister) lived on River Street, where she took great care of my grandfather... funny enough, he was also N. My mother, sometimes stayed overnight at my other grandparents house, on Third Street, not too far from where N lived. One evening, I was to stay with N and she would take me to the church where I caught the bus to go over to South Bend, to the Christian school.

I remember getting up that morning, and standing by the sink with N. We washed our faces. I remember her filling up the sink with hot water. Dunking the washcloth, then holding it up by two corners, dunking it again, two corners, dunk, etc... I was fascinated by this for some reason. I guess we didn't wash our faces like that at my house. N always uses Safeguard soap. (I would never wash my face with safeguard now!) To this day, I cannot smell Safeguard soap without thinking of my sister. I think of her every time I eat at Subway, because that is what they use there. I remember sitting on the couch and N tying my shoes. I remember her helping my zipping up my coat. Tying the string under my chin, to keep my hood on. And then, we set out for the church. N does not drive. We walked. It was dark and still morning, and I remember thinking that was cool, too. We walked up River Street, past the old factory building with broken out windows. Past the gas station. Past the trophy place. To the church... so I could get on the bus.

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