Happy Birthday, Baby Sister!

Do you remember what you were doing in 1977? This was a particular memorable year for the Creel's. I was 17 and a junior in High School. Casey Kasem's Top 40 was playing on the radio. "Car Wash" and "Escape, The Pina Colada Song" were at the top of the charts. I had just started dating Cliff a few months earlier and was working at the Pig. I was living the typical teenage life. Little did I or the rest of the Creel clan know that our world was getting ready to be turned upside down. Mama made the announcement. We're going to have a baby. That's right, My Mother is going to have a baby! OMG! My Mama? That's a thought a teenager doesn't want to dwell on for long! Know what I mean?

After adjusting to the news and as the months progressed along, I would drive Mama to her Dr. appts. Getting out of school early for that was a hit. Poor mama, she struggled with high blood pressure though and had to be very careful. Her time came.

"Watch out y'all, here she comes" should have been the announcement in the G'town times. Because Lord have mercy what had just hit us on June 23, 1977 threw us into a state of shock and awe...Amanda Elizabeth was what it was called. This cute, sweet, little blond baby had 4 sisters and a brother to watch over and cuddle her. She started out sweet and adorable but, it became apparent as soon as she learned to walk that this sweet little bundle of joy, whom her daddy called Monkey was a force to be reckoned with.

I don't remember if she walked or talked first, but both are memorable for me. She was the first, the very first baby to call me LaLa. This baby paved the way for all the babies since to call me such an endearing name. Today, 32 years later, I have 2 grandchildren and yes, they also call me LaLa. Thank you Mandy, I love it! I also remember the day I first saw her walk. Mama told me that she had taken steps and I was so anxious to see....so Mama placed her at one end of the hall and I was at the other . I held out my arms to her her and she held out her arms to me. I called her to come and then she took that 1st step, then the 2nd. I watched in awe with my hand over my mouth as this little angel walked to me with those little outstretched arms. It brought tears to my eyes.

Manipulation of some type comes to mind when I think back to the times when Mama was trying to potty train Mandy. Oh she did so goooood at nap time. She would wake up just as dry as when she went to sleep. But there must have been something special about that rocking chair that she gravitated to after nap time. She christen that thing daily.

Like all little girls, Mandy had a favorite toy. She had a stuffed monkey. He was a gift from Daddy and his name was "George", and he was very real! George went everywhere Mandy went. He went to bed with her, he went on trips with her and he went to the rocking chair with her. After so many christenings of Mama's good rocker, Mandy got one of her own. She would sit and rock George back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. George was so special. He got to go on car trips to see Grandma Creel, but the poor thing would get car sick. Mandy would make daddy roll the window down so George could throw up.

Remember now that Daddy nicknamed her Monkey. And I'm not sure if it was because of George or because this little girl could climb to the top of the closet and find our makeup (it was hidden up there for a reason). Once, after I had just bought a new pair of shoes found that little miss Mandy had found the make up box, retrieved the nail polish and polished my brand new shoes. I mean, who can get mad at the fact that pink was a pretty color and it made my shoes so pretty.

When she was older and in school Mandy would miss Mama and Daddy terribly; to the point that she would cry and pitch a fit not to go to school. Daddy did everything he could think of to get her to go WILLINGLY. And when she still was not so willing, Daddy got Sheriff Poston to come talk to her. Sheriff Poston told her that he would have to take Daddy to jail if she didn't go to school. OOOOH, that was not good. Because the next thing Daddy tried was asking me to take Mandy to school. So I did. And it took all the strength Renee King had to pry her from my car. By this time I was married and not living at home anymore, so I didn't have to live with this repercussion.

By the time Mandy got to high school, she had lots of friends and I don't know who influenced whom.....but things just seemed to happen. I mean, for Lord's sake whose idea was it to drive the car into Black River? Well, we had many of those kinds of questions over the years. But finally she seemed to start settling down. She met and married Wade.

Soon Mandy had an announcement of her own. On December 15th, a Mandy look-a-like, little blond baby girl was born. Poor little thing's collar bone was broken in the process. I remember we were all at Mandy's house that Christmas and it was Déjà vu as we watched Mandy rock baby Kaylan back and forth, back and forth, back and forth just like she had rocked George many years earlier.

A few years later, I was getting ready to take Emily and Whitney to school in Kingstree. The phone rang. We were already running late, so Whitney told me not to answer it. But something told me I had to.......And when I said hello? ........All I could hear was screaming come from the other end.... something about alone with Kaylan, Wade already gone to work and getting ready to have a baby! I thought it was Carla. I said, "Calm down, calm down, where is Mandy"? And just as calm as if nothing was happening, she said, "This is Mandy". Then she told me the story.....she had gotten up to go to the bathroom, felt something, reached ........"OMG it's a foot! Wade's gone and I'm by myself." So she called ME! I told her to just calm down, I was on my way. Cliff heard all this and asked have you called for an ambulance. Stunned, I asked ever so calmly, "Do you think I need to call for an ambulance?" "YES, what are YOU going to do?!", he asked. So he called and told them I would meet them and they could follow me. So many miracles happened that day. The first, when I felt like I had to answer the phone, the next was that the G'town county EMS followed me into Williamsburg county to take Mandy to the hospital in Kingstree. The next miracle was that when the EMS and I got to Mandy's and walked in I could hear her phone making a funny noise. It was off the hook, so I hung it up and as soon as I did, it rang. It was Mandy's doctor calling to give the EMS instructions to take her to the nearest hospital. EMS got Mandy loaded into the ambulance and left for Kingstree. All the important phone calls were made and I was going to stop by home to change my clothes before going to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital, little Brandon was born. I think they said that 7 minutes after Mandy arrived at the hospital, Brandon was born. I cried then, when I found out they were OK. A few days later, Mandy developed an infection and had to be hospitalized. I was so privileged to get to keep Brandon while she was there. But of all things, they wanted me to take him back home to Wade when she was ready to come home. I thought I could keep him and make him mine. But they wouldn't let me! I cried again!!! And Cried some more!!!

Many years and many memories have come and gone. Mandy has proven to be a remarkable woman and sister, a good mother and wife. I love that she came into our life and made such a difference. She amazes me at how smart she is. Watch out y'all, she can hack into anything. Even my voice mail account! For awhile, people thought I had a Chinese woman living at my house. I made Mandy a promise a couple of years ago. And I'm so sorry it has taken so long, but as promised...... this is my birthday story to Mandy.

Happy Birthday Mandy! I love you!