Devonne Brown

“It was twenty years ago today…”

“You were five years old twenty years ago today. You brought home a book called “The Giggling Goat” to read to me.” It made me cry that you could read. I wanted to keep the book forever, but you were horrified. You had to return it to your teacher the very next day. The best I could do was call everybody I knew and tell them that you read to me. Your grandma and grandpa in particular, only you called them “Momal and Popal.” We were West Virgininian’s living in North Carolina.

Twenty years ago today I had twin five year old boys and a mortgage by myself in a house in North Carolina. I crossed the line between brave and stupid about fifteen times a day in the ten years we lived there before moving back to West Virginia. 

Twenty years ago today we loved a white schnauzer named Dodger. He pulled the boys on their scooters as fast as his legs would let him and he loved it. So did the boys. Dodger also demanded his own game controller when Ian and Nick played Mario Cart, he cheated too. The boys let Dodger win most of the time.

Sometimes a shouting match ended with a loud barking. Dodger didn’t allow the boys to argue. 

Twenty years ago today Dodger went camping in the tent on top of the trampoline with the boys and me. He couldn’t decide who to curl up closest to. The trampoline sagged all of us down into a sinking wad. We were all squished  up close together, a giggling mass of mom, boys, and bouncing dog. 

Twenty years ago today we sat at the table before dinner and did homework. We had to practice long division. I could only explain it with crayons and bowls. If Ian had 10 apples, how many did he share with Nick. I gave him two bowls and ten crayons. That’s the best I could do.

Twenty years later, we don’t live in North Carolina, the guys can read and do long division, and we have a cool dog named Opal that doesn’t even play video games. We did ok.