I am an only child, which was a source of anxiety for my mom. She is a twin, and as such, always had her sister by her side. They were and still are emotionally tied in a way I'll never understand. But after I was born, my mom was told she couldn't have another child. Back then; there were fewer options and once a doctor made such a pronouncement that was pretty much the end of the discussion.
My aunt had my oldest cousin Renee several weeks after I was born. Four years later, she gave birth to my other cousin, Robbie. But even before Robbie was born, my mom and my aunt went out of their way to make certain Renee and I spent time together. I heard it all the time growing up - if I couldn't have a sibling, at least I would be close to my cousins. That meant that most holidays and every summer were spent together. As a kid, most summers I would live with Renee and Robbie for at least a month. Once I got very involved in football and had summer games practice, Renee and Robbie started staying with us. The summer my aunt Linda got a divorce, R&R stayed with us for nearly 3 months. That was the summer before Renee and my sophomore year in high school.
For both the summer before my junior and my senior year, I only spent the first 4 weeks of summer at R&R before coming home for two-a-day summer practices. During both of those summers Renee was working at a local pool, teaching kids how to swim. We were in fact very close, and looked forward to summers, spending time at Thanksgiving and Christmas, anytime we could get together. She wasn't that close to Robbie, who was a little brat (and in some ways still is). I was the one she talked to as she dealt with her parents divorce. At least I was the GUY she talked to about it. She no doubt talked more about that and everything else to her best friend, Trish. Trish lived across the back alley and two houses down and they'd been close since Trish's family bought the house 10 years prior. Much of my time at R&R involved hanging out with both Renee and Trish, while Robbie had his own, younger group of kids with whom he hung out - the bicycle brigade.
Starting around age 12, when not a Renee's, we would often talk on the phone. It was a long distance call, but again both my mom and aunt Linda made it clear that the one long distance phone call they wouldn't fuss about was to each other. Sometimes Renee would call alone, sometimes she would have Trish on the other line in their house. They liked to tease me a bit but they also clearly liked having a guy's perspective on things.
I take after my dad's side of the family, so by 16 I was 6'5", 220 lbs and fast. My grades were good, I was articulate and made all-state as a middle linebacker after both my sophomore and junior years, so the colleges were lining up. By the time I got my license, I started occasionally making the 2+ hour drive to R&R when I could and hanging out for the weekend. Renee rarely did the same, in part because I had a car and she didn't - but also because I started dating Trish. That is an entirely different story I will tell another time but Trish was my first in nearly every sexual experience. I would learn later that Renee heard every detail, in great detail, immediately after I would leave town.
Renee, on the other hand, takes after our moms. Petite, blonde and green eyed, she is the poster child for the role of flyer on the cheerleading squad. However, her real athletic love was distance running. Yet despite her petite frame and running, by 17 her curves were fantastic and for her body type, her 34c breasts were amazing eye-candy. Physically she and Trish could have been twins but for the Irish in Trish's family tree that gave her blonde hair a strawberry hue.
The summer before my senior year, I met this guy (Dr. Bob) that aunt Linda was dating. By the end of that summer, wedding plans were being made and that Thanksgiving was less of a traditional Thanksgiving and more of a 4-day wedding party. Renee and Robbie both liked Dr. Bob pretty well, we all did really. He'd gone through a divorce years before also, his kids were grown, and he'd moved to their town to take over the practice of a retiring family/general practitioner. That Christmas he took them to Hawaii. It was my first Christmas without Renee, Robbie and Aunt Linda since I'd been born but my mom and I made the best of it.
That February, I committed to play for Texas A&M. I'd tried to talk both Trish and Renee into going there with me, but they both had their hearts set on LSU. Once I signed my commitment letter, I knew things were about to change and that began with spending most of July and August in College Station. Renee and I quickly committed that I would come spend at least a couple of weeks at their house immediately after high school graduation. It was unspoken, but we both knew this might be the last "summer" of our youth.
My graduation was a week before Renee's. Her family came to mine, but she still had 3 more days of school before her graduation that following weekend. They had commencement on a Saturday afternoon and I drove out for it, with plans to stay the next couple of weeks. After Renee and Trish's commencement, I joined them to attend a couple of graduation parties that night, staying out very late. That Sunday, Dr Bob and Aunt Linda threw a lunchtime party for Renee and Trish at their house.
