Texting with a favorite cousin Nita in Texas yesterday about my post on the Gamecock women’s basketball National Championship – she shared a memory of my daddy’s coaching days in Richards, a memory that made me smile.
I remember your Dad in his shorts when he was coaching basketball in Richards, she texted me. Now that would have been a vision, I thought and laughed to myself. My daddy was a very short man with skinny legs in those days but I guess he wore shorts to practice with his team.
So few people left who remember him, I texted Nita.
He was an amazing man. Very strong and loving, she responded.
I wish I had had him longer, I said. He was my best friend. (He died from colon cancer at the age of 51 when I was 30 years old.)
You’re lucky to have had that valuable relationship, she texted. He would be so pleased to see you now in your happy place and all the things you do and experience. You’re the Energizer Bunny. You can knock her down, but she’ll pop up again. And keep going.
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My cousin Nita has known me since I was born nearly 78 years ago in Navasota, Texas. Because she lived in the much bigger city of Rosenberg, was a few years older, was beautiful, always kind to me and my family, was my mother’s first cousin – the stars aligned to make her a goddess to me when I was growing up. Thinking of her now always makes me smile; she lives in Austin today with her husband Joey who is a huge sports fan like Pretty and me. When the Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team was eliminated in post season play, Nita and Joey became Gamecock fans.
Many of my younger friends call me Sheila Slo because it takes me longer to get around when I’m with them. But my cousin Nita sees the Energizer Bunny side of me that she’s watched for nearly eight decades. I’ve had many knock downs in my life, gut checks happen at any age – it’s the “popping up” choices we make that may define us in the end.
Cheers to the Energizer Bunny in you.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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