Mattie Sue, in retrospect

At this point, I have attempted to immortalize my brother, brother-in-law, wife, daughter and assorted in-laws, mother, father, and dogs. I guess it is time that I spoke a little bit about my sister. Here comes, Susan.

When my sister Susan was a child, her favorite expression was, "I don't care. I like it." This was intended to refer to virtually anything Frank and I might ridicule that was of importance to Susan. In some sense, Susan hasn't changed much at all. When Susan was very small we could set her off easily by using the word "baby" in any manner which seemed to be set toward her direction. The infamous, 'baby crawl-along' was a classic way to get Susan's goat.

Then you have the time when Momma was trying to teach us how to play bridge at Dee Dee's apartment in Hopkinsville and Susan was the 'dummy' on a particular hand. I don't know why that set her off, other than the fact that she was quite young, and couldn't differentiate between an intended slight and a harmless reference in a card game. Of course, I am sure that Frank and I chuckled a bit too much when Susan was made the dummy for that hand. Needless to say, we didn't play bridge anymore that night. As a matter of fact, I don't remember playing bridge ever after that particular game.

Susan's full name is Martha Susan Baynham Miller. She was named after our great grandmother, Martha Susan Gary. Our great grandmother was usually referred to as 'Mattie Sue'. In Victorian times out in the hinterlands of Western Kentucky, being called Mattie Sue was endearing, I suppose. In suburban Dunwoody, however, calling her Mattie Sue caused quite a bit of concern on her part. Oddly, she took on this nom de jour every once and awhile when she was older. I seem to remember it appearing on the back of a sorority shirt for Kappa Delta at Rhodes. Its strange sometimes what becomes endearing over time.

The difference in ages between Susan and myself was eight years. This difference was so great that it wasn't much fun to tease her after we attained a certain age. Of course, it was not beneath Frank to crank her up good and then leave me to suffer the consequences when Momma came to determine what was going on.

There are always little endearments that one remembers. I suppose that the biggest endearment was how Susan used to refer to Frank and myself as 'my boys.' That will probably stick with me longer than most any slight that I might remember. Come to think of it, I don't really remember any slights anyway.

Of course, now she has a giant husband and giant dog to protect her. Thankfully, the husband has back problems. I think Frank and I can take him at this point. Of course Frank has back problems as well. Fortunately, even with my advanced age, I am still meaner.

All in all, she is a pretty sweet sister. Even if she was born in Alabama.