I have several cousins. Some are older and only a full that are close to my age. This is to blame on my Dad. My dad was much older and did not have children until he was in his forties. I guess its not uncommon today. But in he should have had kids in the 1950s, not in the 1970s. Most of my Dad siblings all got married in the 1940’s and their kids: my cousins are about 20 years older then me. That seems a little confusing but it seams sense in my head.
My closest Cousin was Mapopia. That was an interesting name. The name” Mapopia” means spotted fawn in Chickasaw language… I think. Or was it Choctaw. Her mom was Native American . Her mother was related to both tribes. Her dad, my Tio Paulo, was my Dad’s youngest brother. She and I are only one year apart. She was smart and pretty. She had a tough time growing up. Tio Paulo had married an Indian woman from Oklahoma and they had three kids. Mapopia was the oldest and William and Wallace, were twins. We called them Willie and Wally. Mapopia grew up with out her mom. For some reasons, my mother told me…..her mom left and never came back. I wonder now if it was a secret drama. Maybe she cheated on my uncle. I really don’t know. Mapopia only saw her mom a few times after about age 10. It must have been hard to grow up with out a mom. I’m sure my Uncle Paul did the best her could. Mapopia and the boys were also lucky to have neighbors the Copes. They were an older white couple that lived next door and always looked after the kids while my uncle Paul worked. They would feed them, buy them clothes and treated them with love. I remember wondering why they would cal them Me-maw and Pa-paw. They were surrogate grand parents. They would even take the kids to church. Mapopia had some emotional issues that I’m sure where tough.
She suffered from depression. No one understood the level of her illness until my mom told me that she had been rushed to the hospital. She had taken some pills. Her suicide attempt was hard for her. She told me later that the pills made her sick and dizzy. She was just tired of being tired. She said she remembered being in the ER and the bag of activated charcoal burst all over her. Activated charcoal is used to absorb the contents of the stomach and keep them from being absorbed by the body. It sounded horrible. You never truly understand the pain in some heart until you have walked in their shoes. I did not judge her, but tried to understand and be there. We were the same age and our home lives were so different.
During the summers, Mapopia would come to Electra and stay with us. My mom loved her and formed a good bond with her. We even went camping and took Mapopia with us. We enjoyed going to the Copper breaks State park near Quanah Texas. They had great facilities and hot showers. We loved camping with a few comforts of home. Mapopia was one of kids. I used to treat her like one of my sisters. Just one problem. If I teased too much, the girls would gang up on us boys. I and my brother were out numbered by my mom, four sister and cousin Mapopia. They would catch you when you least expected it. They would wait until you were in the men’s bathroom and they could hear the shower running through the vents high above eye level. Then the girls would sneak into the bathroom and pour a dishpan of cold water over the top of the shower stall. All we could do was scream and vow to get our revenge. But it was useless. They stuck together. And my mom was usually the one coming up with ideas. She grew up with only sisters.
Mapopia graduated from Wichita Falls High School, (go Coyotes) and moved to Abilene Texas. She attended Abilene Christian University. In a way I wish I had gone to Abilene too. We could have hung out even though we were at different local schools. McMurry in Abilene had a great music program. I turned down an offer to go to McMurry University in Abilene. The cost was too much even with a scholarship.
I lost track of Mapopia after a few years. I knew she was in Abilene and seemed to like it here. The last time I saw her was over five years ago. My dad had died and I drove up for the funeral. Oddly enough I had a show booked that weekend too. Several of extended family came to watch the drag show. Mapopia was there. She still had the same laugh. She seemed to be doing well. She was working as an office manager with a construction company. I don’t know what she is doing now. I hear she has two kids, and was in a relationship. Maybe I should look for her. I’m sure one of my other cousins would know how to contact her. …..to be continued.
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