STINGERS

 One thing Nan loved more than herself was her sisters and being with them made all of her problems go away. She loved her sisters and their children and sometimes their husbands and not necessarily in that order.

Nan's brother has a house built 150 miles outside of their hometown. All three families 3 women 17 children would all merge there on random weekends throughout the year. We play in the woods, came back with poison oak and poison ivy, dripped in sweat with our clothes torn from running into bushes and brambles.

Once her fourth grandson and her sisters' youngest boy went for a walk in the woods. It was innocent enough her grandson was 7 and his cousin was 12. Screaming and shouting started to fill the woods and no one could figure it out where it came from. Both boys were screaming and yelling "HELP" at the same time. We all ran to the edge of the woods and could not believe our eyes.

Her grandson had stepped into a hive of wasps that had fallen to the ground and it made a large crack. The boys looked down and the wasps came swarming out following the boys as they ran screaming. As they got to the crowd at the edge of the woods 15 kids saw what was happening and started running toward the house. It was September and all of the calamine lotion was used up from poison ivy. 

How do you fix 40 wasp stings? Nan tore off the boys clothes and stuck them in cold water bathtub. Everyone was crying because they just imagined the pain. Nan made a paste of flour, water and baking soda and covered the boys with the paste. It took the pain away but they could not walk down the hall as the white molds turned into plaster. The two boys laid on the floor as all the kids got out their markers and crayons and started to write their names all over their bodies. 

It was time for ice cream and cake. The two boys had to be fed because they could not bend their arms.

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!