Other summer nights we'd run after
the "Mosquito Man" chasing him through the sweet-smelling blue cloud of smoke emitting from his county-owned jeep. It could kill mosquitos but we never gave a thought as to what it could do to us.
Next door to the south lived Benny and Rosie. Benny let me watch The Three Stooges on his TV when my father had enough and scooted me outdoors.
Whenever their niece Gloria got a second game for Christmas or her birthday, she left the extra at Uncle Ben and Rosie's. Then on rainy days, Gloria and I would play Mouse Trap or whatever.
Rosie's sister Helen used to make the summer for Lulu and me. Helen drove her husband Mitch to work and took the family Chevy for the day. She drove us to Sun Tan Lake far off in the woods of northern New Jersey.
Along with her daughters, Patricia, Mary Ellen and Gloria, she brought my mom, her bingo partner, Lulu and me. Patricia always tried to convince Lulu and me to tell anyone we met that we were cousins.
We were practically related: Our fathers had grown up next door to each other and our mothers had gone to bingo since the game was invented. My dad was Mary Ellen's godfather and Mitch was my godfather.
We saw more of them than many of our real relatives. They were always visiting next door. And at every Pigeon Club banquet, I had to dance one obligatory dance with Gloria who was one year older and a few inches taller. ...
Adapted From Sister Dressed Me Funny
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