Fast sleds, Smiles wide, Laughing loud, forever.

Two years ago today, my cousin passed away.

It is still very hard for me to type this and fathom it all. 

It Still, 2 years later, does not feel real. 

It still feels like he will just crawl out from under the Thanksgiving table and sit down next to me to pass the potatoes.

When we were kids my brother and I could not wait for our Denver cousins to arrive for holy hell playtime. It was with my brother and my cousins that I could truly be myself. They were and remain to this day, my best friends. We were uninhibited to let our imaginations run wild (as well as our endless energy) and we had the parents to let us, as they were just to damn tired to control us after months spent apart. 

Our favorite activity of all time: 

Sledding. 

Winter sledding was fun, but not nearly as fun as stair sledding down our grandma and grandpa's old stair case. When we would stairway sled we would line the entire stair case with a fleece, wool, satiny blend blanket to provide good speed (these thin blanket blends work the best. If they are the kind that can repel water and are most likely flammable, you know they are going to be fast). We then would wrap ourselves into other blankets as tight as we could and down we'd go..................

Wait!!! STop!!! Wait!!!

I forgot the most important rule: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER sled into the door at the bottom. You must stop the blanket sleds before the bottom, because that's when one of the adult males would come and project their authority on the shenanigans taking place. 

It was however, inevitable, that on one fast sled ride, the four of us would sled into the door and with this a large explosion would sound and four very loudly laughing children would rocket out the stairway door.
(This is the closest picture I found that resembles our stairway sledding).

We have a bond, the four of us. 

We have a bond that won't ever be broken. 

Little Sled Hill (2016)

Acrylic on canvas panel 8x8

Sledding will do that to kids, bond them for life. The excitement, the danger, the thrill.....

The joy of the wild rambunctious ride. Fast Sleds, Smiles Wide, Laughter Loud. 

Forever.  

-Cheree 

I told this story at my cousin's service. It is my most favorite time in all of my childhood. It's how I remember him.