Meet My Sister, Maxine

 Graphic by Donna

 

Maxine was 14 when I was born. She is a teacher and has taught for around 25 years now. She has taught kindergarten, first, second and fourth grades, but for the past 12 years or so, she's stuck with first grade. She's a very good teacher, lots of fun and very creative; but she is really looking forward to retiring in a few years! We need more teachers like her, and they should be paid more.

Maxine and I are the only two of the kids who don't live in Kentucky. She is coming up for a visit, as a matter of fact, in just a couple of weeks. She used to come in once a year, then twice a year, and nowadays we never know just when she might be popping in! I think she misses us (mostly Mom) more than she used to. But her kids and grandkids are in Florida with her, so she won't be making a move anytime soon.

Maxine was (and still is) the one that you didn't want to dare to do anything, because she'd usually do it. From as far back as I can remember her she was married and she and her husband were sort of in the light of fairy godparents to me, because every time they'd come to visit they'd bring me a present. They called me "Baby" (because I was the baby, of course), until their son was born, that is; boy was I jealous of him! Once they came to visit and brought me one of those little plastic pools. I was so excited! My brother-in-law filled it up, then promptly ran and jumped in it, just being funny. Well, he totally busted the little pool. He was so chagrined that he immediately went out and got me another one!

Writing to Maxine was how I learned to write letters. Whenever Mom would write her I'd scribble lines on a piece of paper and Mom would send it along with her letter. Then Maxine would write me back and comment on all my "news" just as if I'd actually written something. Then when I did start writing, I used to drive my mother nuts asking her how to spell things. I think she finally got irritated and told me to ask Barbara or figure it out for myself. Thus, Maxine has a few samples ofmy early writing endeavors, phonetic spelling and all. The very first poem that I ever wrote, or at least the first one that we have documented evidence of, was written to Maxine and included in one of my letters to her. She still has it and my mother has a copy of it. I can still recite it. I can recite it correctly, and I can recite it the way I spelled (or shall we say, misspelled) it. Would you like to hear it? Maybe I'll honor you with a recitation sometime.

Dennice, Alton and Maxine were the three that I really don't remember much about from my early years, except that they would come to see me. Dennice got married the month after I was born, Alton moved out to stay with an uncle and aunt where he was working at the time, by the time I was about 1-1/2 years old, and Maxine married at the age of 15. So they were kind of mysterious to me until I was about three years old. (By the way, Maxine married at 15, but finished school, and she and her husband didn't have any children until she was 18. And they were married until he died in 1996.)

Maxine is funny, talented, and musically inclined as well, playing guitar and a little banjo. She is a wonderful aunt. All the grandkids and great-grandkids love her. She is currently helping Eler Beth build her collection of "Princess" Barbies. Maxine's first husband died of a brain tumor ten years ago, and she remarried about six years ago, to a man originally from Germany, but a U.S. resident for more than 30 years. Maxine is the world traveler in the family, having done quite a bit of traveling before her second marriage, and even more since.

So now you've met number 3.

To be continued....