My cousin Laura

My cousin Laura passed away this past week. She was only a year or two older than I am. I have been debating whether or not to post anything about it, because it is just so hard to find the words to convey how sad I am over the news. I am also disappointed that I cannot make the trip back to Indiana at this time to grieve with family. But I decided to post something after all, concentrating on some fun memories that I have of her from when we were growing up.

I didn’t get to see Laura and her sister Sara very often, as we lived about 20 hours away. They were in Indiana; I was in Wyoming. But every year we would drive out to Indiana to visit our extended family, and Laura and Sara would be there as well. So many of my fun memories from our vacations back then include Laura and Sara. I have so many remembrances of us exploring the Yergler farm. We would drive this old tractor down to the sandhill to look for arrowheads and we also would explore the old barn. I can still smell the old, pleasant farm smells. I remember all the wild barn kittens that wouldn’t let us near them. I also remember performing acrobatics in the yard. Well, I tried anyways. I never was coordinated enough to do the cartwheels and fancy stuff that Laura and Sara did. I also recall spending the night at their house a few times – that was so much fun. One house had this awesome loft that I just loved. We would walk over to the Hunt Club and buy the best orange soda (in glass bottles) that I have ever tasted to this day.

Oh, and I cannot forget one of my most favorite memories with them – raiding Grandpa’s candy closet in the middle of the night! Laura and Sara put me up to it of course. 😉 The way I remember it, Grandpa wasn’t supposed to have candy, so he would hide it from Grandma in his office. I am sure she knew about his secret stash though. Grandpa was always doing funny things just to get a reaction from Grandma. But either way, we felt deliciously naughty when we would raid the closet for candy in his office in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep.

Laura and Sara came out to Wyoming one year with Grandma and Grandpa, and that was a ton of fun too! We all went driving in the mountains and just ran around our house like the kids we were. Karen and Cindy would always try to tag along, much to my chagrin, because they also enjoyed Laura and Sara’s company.