My Cousin Molly

So my dad calls up to tell me about how beautiful my cousin is in this picture. And he's right, naturally.

But he goes on to remind me of a time when Molly was less than 2 years old and she and Daddy spent the afternoon raking leaves. Or, rather, Daddy raked leaves

(at my Aunt Georgiana's house. Aunt G was Molly's grandmother, and was famous for things like watching soap operas while eating microwaved dinners and drinking RC Colas one after the other out of a six-pack of bottles. She also liked to keep her washer in the basement and carry the wet laundry up two floors in a dark stairway to hang it in the attic. Her son offered her a washer/dryer combo, but that would be "too much trouble." She also scandalized my friend Kate by telling Kate (when G was about 80) that when she worked at Duke in the 40's they weren't supposed to date the students. "But we got some action" she said. You should have seen Kate's face. Did I mention that Aunt G could put away an entire fried seafood combo plate in one sitting? With fries and salad and iced tea and the whole thing. And she might have weighed 120. Maybe. She was awesome.)

while Molly practiced leaping off a very, very low stair. It was about an inch off the ground, he says. She would jump off, then say "I did it!" and climb back up with her hands down for balance. Repeat. She must have done it 20 times, he thinks.

Iain is busy this morning with a similar task. He's drinking his bottle, then putting it up on a box. When it doesn't settle quite right and rolls back into his lap, he giggles, drinks some more, then tries again. Maybe one day he'll end up as lovely and accomplished as Molly, and then he can say "I did it!"

[EDIT: Turns out that today is Aunt Georgiana's birthday! She would have been 100 today.]