After returning from Louisiana, I was surprised at the memories that came flooding back. But first I should explain the situation a little more. Shortly after my parents divorced when I was in 1st grade, my dad remarried to Phyllis. She had a son, Paul, who was a little bit older than me. We would visit in Louisiana during the summers to see our dad. My mom remarried to Dennis when I was in 2nd grade. Dennis and I didn't seem to get along, so I asked to live with my dad. I went to live with dad and Phyllis in the 4th grade. We lived in Louisiana, Stephanie hadn't been born yet, I think. I remember that Paul and I had a very hard time sharing my dad. We were both pretty possessive of him and competed for his attention. But it wasn't just his attention we competed for, we made a contest out of everything. I even remember fighting over a patch of clovers in the backyard, because we wanted to see who could find a 4 leaf clover first. But one memory that sticks out most was when I was outside playing with some friends. Me and a couple of other girls were taking turns racing each other down the street. There was this one girl that wasn't always nice to people, and it was my turn to race her. I just knew I was going to win so that I could show her up. Well, she won, and those of you that know me, know that I don't take losing very well. I was so mad that I walked up and slapped her. When her parents came out, I started cussing at them. At some point, I realized that I had gone too far and I knew I was going to be in trouble, so I ran home. Sure enough, the girl's father came knocking on the door to talk to my dad. I hid in the hallway so I could hear what they were saying. I remember my dad telling the man that I don't normally act that way and he apologized for me or something. When my dad closed the door, I was expecting the worst, so when he called me to him, I went very slowly, knowing I couldn't talk my way out of this one. I was shocked, however, when my dad turned to me and said, "Don't swear. Now you need stay out of the front yard so that it looks like I grounded you." Boy, was I surprised, but more than that, I felt a sudden surge of love for my dad. I don't know if it was just because he was merciful or what, but I truly felt like he was on my side. The other part of the story is that, my brother Paul was going up and down the street telling all the kids in the neighborhood what I did to the girl that wasn't very nice to people. I remember him using the words "my sister". He was proud of what I did, and even bragged about me being his sister. I know that these terrible actions of mine shouldn't have made me so happy, but the memory of my dad protecting me, and my brother claiming me, just made it a good day.
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