by Belinda Jolly

Created on: September 22, 2008

By the time my sister, Cricket, was born in March of 1955, there were five of us kids vying for our parents attention. Cheryl, the oldest was like a little mama. A month short of her eighth birthday, she was already feeding bottles and changing diapers. She was also learning to cook and clean house. Mom's last trip home from the hospital had been with a set of twins.

Mom came home from the hospital to the sound of hungry, happy kids. Cheryl had done her best but her beans, taters, and cornbread had not been as good as Mom's.

We all gathered around mom to get a peek at our new baby sister. She was named after our mom, Violet. We stood in awe at the sight of her. Mom said she was no bigger than a loaf of bread. She uncovered her and began to change her diaper. Twins Lonnie and Connie, not even two, had danced with joy and Lonnie stood on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on her little bottom. That made us all burst out laughing.

She was a tiny baby and she slept in a dresser drawer in mom and dad's bedroom. She thrived and grew, yet she was a sickly baby who coughed a lot. Mom used Vicks Salve to help quiet her cough. She started crawling on the floor and chasing crickets, earning the nickname, Cricket. Her eyes were a dark, chocolate brown, and her hair was in blonde rings all over her head.

One day Cricket got hold of the jar of Vicks Salve and ate nearly half of it. She was rushed to the hospital and we nearly lost her then. She came home after a few days and mom and dad learned that she had asthma. Her coughing was one of the things that dad had a hard time coping with because as a very small child, he laid in his bed and listened to his baby brother cough over and over. Suddenly it was over. The coughing seized. His mother wept. His baby brother died at home. Her coughing made dad so nervous or scared. Dad would try to stop Cricket's cough by using the Vicks to calm and soothe her cough.

Cricket grew more curious and sassy over the next few years. Mom had three more babies after that. Cricket began to show a personality that would get her more attention than she bargained for. She was loud and said what she felt had to be said. Our parents did not like a child that talked back. Somehow Cricket didn't care or maybe wasn't quite old enough to understand. She talked back, argued with anyone, and she couldn't help it.

As the years went by, the family fell apart. Mom and Dad ended up in divorce court. Mom had six kids to raise and she eventually married again. Cricket wasn't

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