Meet the Family: She She

Meet She She. Or Shn Shn if you prefer. She is the next oldest of my younger siblings. Curly couldn't say her name properly, so this is what she was called at our house for a long time. It was a sad day for She she when Curly actually started to call her by her name.

While on the subject of my siblings names, I might add that you are better off for memory with the false names. The ones that are from my dad and his second wife all have very interesting names that I had a hard time learning to spell. I remember being so proud the day that I learned to spell the third one's name properly...but that's a different topic in itself.


So, as I just shared in passing, She she is a daughter of my Dad and his second wife, S. (Not to be confused with Grandma S...which I guess could be confusing now that I write that out for you. Grandma S just happens to have the same first initial and did not give birth to She she. Different wife that starts with S.) All siblings hereto after born to my Dad are children of his second wife, S. I'm letting you meet them by order of their ages, so I will clarify at the start of their posts which parent they belong to and whom their other parent is. It will go back and forth from Mom's kids to Dad's kids quite a bit. Just to let you know ahead of time.

Okay, She she. Well, there are lots of things to say about She she. I could probably go on for ages about her...but I won't. You see, She she and I have had our moments. We don't always get along, and that's partly because we both have the same weak areas. We are both first-borns (and I bet not many siblings share that!), and we both like to be in control. That's part of being a first-born and also part of a childhood that feels out of control.

Stop for a sec. I just have to clear up that I turned out well in spite of divorce and I never wished that my parents had stayed married just for me. I don't want you to take that as me saying that I had a terrible childhood or that my life wasn't fantastic as a kid. I had an amazing childhood. That was just to state that divorce does play a role in the way you view things and I do think that some of my desire for control and controlling nature come from that. Some of it is just part of the genetic make up that made me.

Okay, this is bound to be a long post...


So, we have a lot of the same weaknesses and thus have butted heads. But, I also have some of my fondest memories with She she. Because we understand each other in a lot of ways. She is probably one of the sisters that I have had the most late night chats with and is definately the one that I feel I have been able to be a "big sister" to the most.

When Handsome and I lived in the milking barn on my Dad's property, she would come over all the time. There was a time period that wasn't all that small where I wasn't working (we didn't have children while living there either) and I was home all day. She would come over and we would talk and cook and all sorts of things. There wasn't a lot of learning of home making skills at Dad's house, so she came and "tried" to learn some of those. Now that she is married I will have to ask her husband how she is doing with learning those skills. =)

She would come over all the time. Probably more than once daily. I can't even remember what we did all the time, but I know that our conversations ranged from silly to very deep and everything in the middle. I had this pair of black mules (slip on shoes) that she would wear to run over to her house if she needed to go over for anything. Recently I was getting rid of them since Smiles made me go from an 9 1/2 to an 11 (DARN that boy!) and she took them. They weren't anything pretty, but she said they had memories for her. Because of this I know that she has fond memories of those times too.


About a year before Smiles was born, maybe a little before that, She she came to live with us. There was a lot going on in her family and she didn't have anywhere to go. She came to live in my craft room, which is now Smiles' room. During that time I think we both learned a lot. I would say this was when we butted heads a lot too. She didn't have a car or a job and I was at home all day with Curly and her little friend that is 5 months younger than she is. We were all stuck in the house all day long. ALL DAY. Every. Day.

After some searching in the locations nearby (because she didn't have a car yet and so I had to be able to take her to work at first), she got her first job. It was at our friendly neighborhood Fred Meyer. My favorite store! (Other than Target of course...and that's the truth!) She did awesome and I knew she would. One of the greatest feelings that you can have is feeling like you can take care of yourself. That feeling of accomplishment that employment gives you is a wonderful thing and I knew it would have a good effect on her. I didn't have a clue how much she would grow through it though.

Can I just tell you that I am so proud of that girl? She has grown up so much in the last year and a half, it's amazing. She took her life into he own hands (and don't take that to mean that the Lord was left out...I just mean that she stopped expecting everything from her parents) and learned how to take care of herself. She has blossomed into a wonderful young woman and has matured in so many ways. She she has worked hard to turn things around and that hard work shows.


A couple of months ago she got married to Rosie. Yep. You get the name Rosie "C", and I'm sure that's no surprise to you =). Rosie is in the Army and is a good clean cut boy. He has a good effect on She she, he has brought some things to her life that she desperately needed and I love that she found a man that is as great for her as he is. They both have the same solid beliefs, which I am also glad for. I know that they will raise a fine young brood of children (okay, or just a couple) when the time comes. I am still mad at them for going off and getting married before they were supposed to though. They were supposed to be the first wedding that I got to photograph.


Okay, maybe not. I still forgive you.

She she is extremely silly. I mean EXTREMELY. And random. So random that it doesn't make sense most of the time. That's a J family thing though. I have been known in my day to be nearly as random, if not equally so. Most would say that I have grown out of that now. Most of the time. BUT, She she can bring it right back out. It's the special bond of sisters. She is, in fact, so random and silly that I can't even think of an example or how to fit it so that you could possibly grasp and understand. I don't know how to type out such sounds and make believe words. Just can't do it.


She she and the J clan are a mystery that you have to unfold in person to fully understand. The pictures of me in this post might give a glimpse. Or the one of Brody and the lens cap that became a great many things in this post. That's about all the glimpse you are going to get right now. And She she, well, she is right up there with the silliest of them.

She she loves ASL. She is thinking about going to school in order to become an interpreter right now in fact. (She she- did you register for school yet? You better get your booty in gear and do it before it's too late for the next quarter. You know this sister will be on you about that, but only because you asked me to.) While she lived with us she was working very part time as a tutor for ASL at the local community college. It was fun to have someone to sign with from time to time. It had been so long for me since I had learned ASL that I had forgotten it all. Sadly, I would probably say that I am back in that boat again. Now there are some fun memories. Being silly while signing is even more fun!


I just got a flash back of when she was living with us and we didn't have a bed for her. Poor girl was sleeping on an inflatable mattress. Well, after a few weeks of daily sleeping on our cheap air mattress, it sprung a leak. She was on the floor by morning...even within an hour or so I would say. So, I remember going in and chatting until way too late at night, giggling and bugging Handsome to no end. And I recall sitting down on the mattress so that it would raise her up off the floor for just a moment. And don't think that we were slight of mind (did I just make that term up?). We tried to patch it, but you know how when you get a hole on the seam it just won't be patched? Well, that was our issue.

Don't be too dismayed. Nana loaned us a good air mattress shortly after and then a little later she was given a bed by her church that she got to keep. It was a very nice bed. Much welcomed after such a rough time for the first weeks of being here.

Oh! And she got me addicted to Free Cell, you know the solitare game on the computer. Yep. That was all her and I was really addicted. Like really badly. But it's okay. I am now free. Freed from Free Cell!

Blogging may have taken it's place...


You see, I could go on for ages about She she. Being that she lived with us as an adult it gives you way more stories. Just like I could tell you oh so many things about Handsome or Curly. But I will stop now so that you can rest your eyes. I know that they hurt now.

I think you should go give your eyes a cucumber or two after that. Oooh. I have a cucumber in the frige. That sounds good.

Happy Friday! More Meet the Family next week!