My Childhood Hero

When I think back to when I was a child, the person who I looked up to and wanted to be like the most, was my cousin Kim.




Umm this is her being her normal crazy self.


Was she a hero?  To me she was.  In my opinion she was the smartest, coolest, prettiest cousin one could ask for.


I grew up in a rural farming town (and later a farm); Kim is from a big city and that in itself was enough to put 'stars' in my eyes.  She taught me a lot of life lessons, albeit in a funny and unconventional way, but lessons all the same, here is a list of some of them:

-1- When you play nicky-nine-doors you must RUN.  Yes, you do not ring the doorbell and just stand there.  Case in point; when I first played this 'game' with her and her friends, I rang the doorbell as they asked...but the thing is..I just stood there..I mean I rang the lady's doorbell, shouldn't I wait for her to answer?  It was too late when I heard my cousin yelling "RUN"; the lady was already at the door.  Another valuable lesson learnt during this same incident is that when the homeowner does come to the door, don't give them a detailed description of where everyone ran to..this is not cool.

-2- Kim taught me how cinnamon was manufactured and as a lover of cinnamon, well this was a very good lesson.  It came about once whilst sitting on the front step at her friend Sarah's house.  Me hanging out with two cool teenagers..yeah..picture it.  So anyways, they started "eating" red ants..(ok I'm soo gullible, but I was convinced)...when I asked them why they were eating the ants they both looked at me like I was from space..."Uh Duh..this is where cinnamon comes from"...needless to say, I wanted to be cool like them, so I ate a red ant.  It did not taste like cinnamon, but I'm sure I said it did.

Yes I ate one.

-3- I was never abducted as a child due mostly to my cousins keen common sense and street smarts...(although once she almost made me get hit by a car..and yes it would have been her fault..but I've since forgiven her).  She told me that every man in a white van was a kidnapper.  I'm not sure she realizes how beneficial this piece of advice was.  For years (and even still) I have nightmares about being kidnapped by a man in a white van.  When I was younger I used to hide every time I saw one driving down the road... thank goodness.. if I didn't know this..well who knows what might have happened.

-4- Kim took me to my very first Rock concert.  She and her friends had backstage passes..or an "in" with the band... something like that.  It was Honeymoon Suite; I was so excited I wore my navy blue banana pants with a long white blouse over top and a red belt draped over my hip.  A friend lent me a string of red pearls and matching earrings..as well a pair of red pumps... I was sooo stylin.  We had frontt row tickets; but by the first song my feet hurt.. it's not cool to sit down when you have front row tickets to the best band EVER, unless of course it's at the symphony.  To end the evening I sat on a rock outside the front door of the arena..with achy feet..probably crying that no-one loved me (because I was 12 or 13) while the 'cool' girls went off to see the band.  Valuable lesson learnt here? Don't wear high heels to a concert..especially if you've never worn them before.

-5- Never be too shy to exercise.  Not only did we role-play countless dance scenes from Grease..(I was always Pinky??...Kim insisted one day that it would be an awesome idea to get dressed up in our spandex, leg warmers and sweat bands; carry the ghetto blaster down to the nearest street lights..on a busy road of course.. and blast Olivia Newton John's "Let Get Physical" while we did a choreographed workout... need I say more??

I could go on forever.  I haven't even mentioned asking people for pennieeeeeeeees, yelling out "Your house smells like chocolate pudding", or camping on a sidewalk for three days for Springsteen tickets..OR the Big Rock Candy Mountain!!

These memories are the same memories one might have of going to the cottage, or having an Ice Cream with dad one hot day... they are my fondest.  Back then Kim seemed so much older than me, but really she's not.  I'm still close with her today, and imagine...she's turned into a real life hero.  Not only is she a hero to her kids Nicole and Craig; but she is a hero to people in her community and her province where she works as a Peel Regional Police officer.  The one thing I don't get about her though, is her lack of confidence.

She should be so proud of where she has come from, what she has done, and where she is going.  She should be so proud that so many people love her and cherish her for being her wild and crazy self.. I know I do.  I mean come on... she was the first person I thought of when I thought about my childhood hero!!

Thank You for everything my cousin... for being my friend..and for being my hero... I love you!