I have two girl cousins that are my age…
In fact one was born on the same day as me in the same hospital…
That has probably attributed to the bond we have…
The other one is like a good friend… We can talk and share everything… and we do every week-long distance as she drives to and from work 
…
The cousin who shares my birthday 
lives in Illinois 
…
The other in Tennessee 
…
I’m in the middle in Kentucky 
…
And that so describes our relationship…
Phyllis and I played together…
Vera and I played together…
Every now and then… we were all three together…
Sometimes that “three” just wasn’t a good idea…
We all have such different personalities…
One… unable to make decisions without going over it and over it…
One… has a quick wit and is “fast-moving” in her answers and getting things done…
and then there’s me…
I am the “middle ” ground… because I don’t like confrontation… and I look at both sides …. and hope for middle ground…
I’ve seen both cousins… and the other two hadn’t really visited for so many years…
So Vera came from Tennessee to my house in Kentucky and then we went together to see Phyllis in Illinois…
We all three couldn’t wait to get together…
and Vera kidded, “Can we get along?… Have we matured enough to enjoy the differences in our personalities and what we have become”…
We left early Friday morning… stopping for breakfast 
and browsing an antiques store for an hour or so…
We arrived through “Bertha” telling us each way to go…”Bertha” being Vera’s GPS on her phone… We praised Bertha … She got us there right to Phyllis’ door perfectly…
We were immediately hugged and kissed by her and her husband…
We immediately were at home in Phyllis’ house…
We looked at old pictures she had retrieved from her stash left by her Mom, Aunts… etc. …
We were treated to a wonderful dinner of roast beef, potatoes/carrots, gravy, corn and cornbread…
Dessert was a Buttery Chess Cake which I will include here:
Chess Cake Bars
Mix Together:
1-box yellow cake mix
1-egg
1-stick melted butter
Press into 13″ X 9″ greased and floured pan
NEXT:
2-beaten eggs
1-teaspoon vanilla
1-box powdered sugar
1-8oz. cream cheese (soft)
Mix and pour over cake mixture
Bake 350 degrees approximately 30-35 minutes
We loved her country home which part is from the 1800′s… They have a small farm of 29 acres…
Lee raises sheep… ( used to raise goats)… and had just had some babies 
…
They have two beautiful ponds of water… and a creek that runs in the back…
After snows and thaws it was pretty muddy…
I did finally make my way back to the sheep and the two dogs that were herding them… One a Border Collie (Blaze) 
and one a Anatolian Pyrenees (Buddy)… 
Both took their jobs seriously…
We talked and talked… getting to bed very late…
We woke to coffee brewing
… and after sitting and talking some more…We had lots to say…
Phyllis fixes us sausage gravy, biscuits, chunky applesauce/apricot/strawberry jam…
Were we happy???… YES! 
Later warm orange cinnamon rolls as we relived some more memories…
We were going to meet up with another cousin but, with an ailing husband… we decided another time would be best…
Both of her daughter’s work and so unable to see either of them… A little disappointed, but that’s the way with busy lives…
We kidded Phyllis about all of her wonderful collectibles… Three curios with beautiful dishes, gifts from friends and family… and her love of the Kentucky Cardinal Bird (Red Birds) 
as she calls them… A whole cabinet was devoted to them…
We kiddingly said, “We should have just come to your house to browse instead of the antique shop we had stopped at”…
So she said, “Feel free to shop”… “for most anything”, she added…
We left with a gift for my sister… a cute mug 
and glass dish for Vera… and a clear glass bowl 
that was her Mother’s for me… What fun!…
Our conversations… jokes… tears… laughter… will be remembered for a long time…
A short visit… but, a fulfilled one…
Related articles
- Cousins (awindowintomyworld.wordpress.com)
Comments on: "Bertha Got Us There!" (10)
You are very lucky to have such close cousins that you can have good times with
Yes…with us getting older especially…It would have been complete if my sister had beeen able to go…
What a fun memory making trip!
yes it was…I love those cousins a lot!
What a nice thing, to catch up on old friendships and relationships! I’ve done this with a few of my cousins on a couple of occasions….very rewarding! Thanks for sharing your visit! I’m going to do this in April, and I’ll have to let you know how my trip goes. ~ Sheila
will be looking forward to hearing about your trip… We will be talking about ours for awhile…so much fun…
I loved this and was so Jealous !! I am so glad you guys had fun…we did miss you Vera !
Just had to steal my cousin to visit the other one…what fun!…I talked so much …had a sore throat…
What a wonderful reunion you shared with us. Did you feel like the years had slipped away and you were young again? So Refreshing – Thanks so much for writing about this sweet visit!
We were immediately 10 years old again…loved it! thanks for reading…