Dance

Not all my memories are bad or sad. I have some great ones too. Memories that will stick with me forever...

I remember while living in our duplex (the same one mentioned in yesterday's blog) my cousin lived with us for awhile. Unlike my "aunt," she is really my cousin, my uncle's daughter. She was a teenager and in high school. I remember thinking she was so cool, I wanted to be like her so badly.

Now, for those of you who don't know my cousin, she is one of those females who knows how to do everything right for her appearance. She is cute and tiny, she does her hair, her make-up--everything, she is always decked out. At age 5, I was in awe of my cool, beautiful cousin.

Sometimes after she got home from school she would watch me. I always liked it when she was babysitting rather than my aunt. She played with me, we watched MTV together, she braided my hair... Plus she was always encouraging, she teased me about boys, made me feel pretty. We always had a good time, or at least I did, when we were together. But one particular time stands out--she taught me how to dance.

I can't say she taught me a "dance" per se, but I remember her putting on the Michael Jackson Thriller album--that's right, a record--and teaching me to listen to the beat. She told me to snap my fingers, and move each time the beat hit, to to follow the rhythm. I must admit that I am not a dancer, never have been, but we had so much fun dancing around the livingroom to Michael Jackson, I felt so grown up.

What made it even better was that I wasn't allowed to listen to Michael Jackson because my mom didn't like him or his music. Michael Jackson was my favorite... It was the early 80s after all!

To this day, every time I hear Thriller, or see the album cover, I am taken back to when I was dancing with my cousin in the livingroom.