My dear sweet cousin called and left a message the other day that the Jackson 5 classic ABC was playing on her car radio. She had to call to say she thought of me. I know what you are thinking....Dee and Michael Jackson.....what is the connection?
I knew exactly what my now grown up and gorgeous cousin referred to. We were elementary school age. My family and I were living in Greenville, and my cousin came for a summer visit. During her stay she, My One Day To Be Size 4 Banker Sister, and I worked tirelessly to reprise the famous Jackson moves and music in the basement (or should I say studio) of our home. As you might imagine, it was quite a show! I am sure there is video somewhere....we can only hope it never surfaces!
Oddly, the only additional memory I have of my cousin's visit that year is my mother insisting that she (the visiting cousin) remain in her chair and at her place at the table until she completely finished eating something, possibly pancakes or peas .....memories can be fuzzy and fleeting, can they not..... that my cousin simply wouldn't eat. Sadly, 'The Jacksons' lost quite a substantial bit of rehearsal time because of that culinary stand-off.
A couple of years passed. My dad finished his residency, and my family relocated to Pageland. But the simple matters of location and logistics couldn't keep the aspiring Jackson 3 down. After all, we thought, why should Pageland miss out on the amazing performances to which Greenville had already been treated? Our dreams of being Jacksons, albeit somewhat blonde Jacksons, absolutely refused to die. We same three, two sisters and our cousin, and now a third sister only just toddling (we may not have been getting better, but at least we were getting closer to the requisite 5), again put together a Jackson show for the ages, this time on the front porch that ran the length of our Pigg Street, umm yes that's Pigg Street , home. I should note here that there was in fact another cousin, only a little older but older enough that our concerts were anything but cool to her. As "I'll Be There and "Everybody is A Star" (at least those were slow and we didn't have to dance...much) and "I Want You Back" (ooh ooh baby) rang out on Pageland's Pigg St, we were sure we would one day find ourselves front and center on the Motown Stage. Neither race nor sex nor a decided and definite lack of Motown moves....you know, we danced like white girls.... would stand in our way. You have to love the, with apologies to Justin Bieber, "never say never" attitudes of the very young. (Perhaps we should have saved those videos after all.....I think JB turned his home movies into an empire.) Now, anyone who knows me or especially Size 4 Banker at all knows there is nothing about us that remotely resembles what Adam Levine of Maroon 5 would today call 'moves like Jaggar' or that later to become King of Pop Jackson himself might have applauded for that matter. And I should add here that our cousin and littlest sister would eventually become quite the dancers. But, in those early days, what we lacked in talent and moves, we more than made up for in enthusiasm.
My sisters and I were discussing last week-end that we have relatively few memories of our childhood. But the Jackson 5 shows......now those, I will remember always. And, as for my cousins, those relationships are among the ones I treasure most. They are definitely as the Jacksons said "easy as 1 - 2 - 3!"
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