By Mo McCooper, January 28, 2010 — Not long after I learned to walk, my cousin showed up at our apartment on top of the bar. He took me on an adventure in the fields and woods nearby. Joey took me everywhere. He was three years older than me, and the best cousin anyone could ever have. I got to hang out with some of his buddies. They taught me how to play fistball, tag, and tug of war.
When I was in the second grade I started to take Joey’s younger brother Johnnie, (who was two years younger than me) to the same places Joey took me to. A few years later their sister Patsy would come along. She had a great sense of humor and was a lot of fun. Patsy was about a year and a half older than me.
Johnny used to fall in the creeks a lot when we were jumping from stone to stone. It was always at the end of the day so when he got home for dinner soaking wet, I’d get blamed and hollered at a little. But, I never really got punishment for anything. Aunt Helen was wonderful, beautiful, and funny! She was also a great cook and I stayed for dinner a lot.
We also went to the playgrounds, ponds, and creeks on the weekends during the school year but Joey was usually at practice for school sports. Patsy would skip her sports games.