Allow Me To Introduce You...

This is my cousin, Chessie.  Her real name is Francesca, but early on in her childhood everyone had shortened it to either Chessie, or Cheska. To me, she always has been and always will be, Chessie. She’s every inch the typical Ferrara; wide hips, short, pretty, but with an attitude that has no match. At any given moment she can give you a withering glare that will melt your nose hairs. This is part of the reason I love her so!

As a child she was a bratty little thing, no doubt because my aunt Barbara allowed her to be present no matter what the conversation around the table was about. Imagine discussing marital problems, deep, dark family secrets, and your menstrual cycle with a wide-eyed 6 year old listening in the whole time, sipping from her mother’s tea cup.

We all grew up fairly close to one another on that funny looking island of NY called Long Island. As a child I was often called upon to babysit for both Chessie, and her older brother, David. David is a whole ‘nother story of bratty childhood shenanigans, but this is not his story, so I’ll spare you of his tales. But when uncle David and aunt Barbara called me to babysit, I used to jump at the chance. Why? Because uncle David paid very well, and my job was easy. I’d sit and watch TV, and let the kids out to play in the neighborhood. Oftentimes I would even clean the house for my aunt, knowing that she worked full time as a nurse and was stretched pretty thin. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from spending time in their house.

Unfortunately, around 1990, everyone started picking up and moving. My family, including my brother, to Florida, uncle David and aunt Barbara to the beautiful state of Utah, where uncle David would be setting up headquarters for his business. It was fairly devastating to me, because I had such an attachment to my family.

It was usually every other year that the Utah clan (always minus little David though) would hop on a plane and join the rest of us for the Christmas and New Years festivities. Each time I saw my cousin Chessie again she was less the little girl and more the blossoming woman, growing those Ferrara hips to perfection and honing her attitude to a sharp point. But aside from that withering attitude, there was a heart of gold and a love of family and tradition that knew no bounds.

These days Chessie is a 26- year -old married woman with two pussies. Wait. That didn’t sound right, did it? She’s a married woman with two cute cats. One regular pussy. Her and her hubby, Michael, live in Ohio, where Chessie works as a registered nurse in a local hospital. Yep, she’s come a long way, baby. I haven’t actually seen her in about 4 years and I miss her desperately, as I know Jill does also. In recent years uncle David and aunt Barbara haven’t been flying down for Christmas, and it’s just not the same without that branch of the family here to celebrate with us.

But why this post about my beautiful cousin? Well, because I wanted to introduce you to her because… she’s just started her own blog! Yep, she sure has, and I’m so excited about it! She’s a bit timid about the whole blog thing, thinking no one is even going to read it. So I told her I’d grab some of my blogging buddies and lead them to her. I’m like the friggin’ shepherd of lonely blogs, ain’t I?

Her very first post is a good one, if I do say so myself. It’s about Ferrara Florida Christmases past, with lots of pictures included. You may even catch a glimpse of me the year I tried Weight Watchers and lost 52 pounds, resulting in a much more attractive Tiney. If I do say so myself. And I do. There are pictures of Jill with baby Alexa, pictures of baby Madison, and young pictures of Mikayla. What’s not to love in a post like that?

So please, stop by Café Chessie and give her some sweet comment love. She sure will appreciate being put on some blog rolls, and I just bet some of you will turn up on hers. Last night we joked that the whole blog wars thing between Jill and I might become a blog war triangle. Instead of just Jill and I doing our best to embarrass each other, we've now got a third blogger with unknown funky family stories to tell. God knows what Chessie has up her sleeve. I can’t wait to find out!