A Mystery

I have a lot of memories of Tam from when I was small, but the teenage years are a bit of a blur. Other than the bowling experience and the time at the church camp, our lives didn't intersect much. Tam has always been sort of a mystery to me and I never really know what the real story is.

I know that she loved to go dancing and to clubs, but being too young, I never frequented those places. She would tell us a bit of her times at the Machine Shop, The Slide In, Lost Horizon and Uncle Sam's, but not much. More than once, I remember going with my dad to pick Tammie up after her old 1973 mustard-yellow Oldsmobile 88 would break down. One time, there were several girls that stayed over at our home after one such adventure. A girl named "Judy" stayed for several days and my mom was starting to wonder. Eventually, Judy returned to wherever she came from and my sister never spoke of her again. In fact, she never spoke of her before that night.

Another time, I came home from school and there was some guy named "Wayne" hiding in our basement. In addition, there were several young men outside waiting for Wayne to come out. I really don't know who Wayne is or was or what became of him. I do recall that someone came to retrieve the characters outside, but I never really learned what that was all about. Tam probably felt sorry for the young man.

In December 2007, I got a call from Tammie and she was stranded on the NYS Thruway just west of Herkimer. She was calling from the Trooper barracks in Schuyler and sounded a bit frantic. Although there was a terrible snowstorm, Amy and I started out on a midnight adventure to retrieve my sister. The visibility was terrible and the roads were unplowed; it may have been the most dangerous thing that I have ever done in my rather tame life. I never got an explanation from Tam on where she was headed that night, but I don't believe that I ever asked. On her Facebook profile, she lists more than once about having fun. I think that is what she was trying to accomplish that night and what she really wanted her whole life.

Tammie liked to keep some things to herself. She never smoked in front of my parents, nor did she even tell them that she did. Of course, my mom and dad are pretty hip characters and they really knew all along. Tammie spent a lot of time by herself and with friends during her teen years and moved out of the house when she was eighteen. Except for a short period (two weeks or so), she never lived with my parents again. There is a lot that I don't know about my sister, but I know that all of us have things that we want to keep to ourselves.