Happy Birthday Courtney!
Today is your Aunt Courtney’s 31st birthday! Happy Birthday Aunt Courtney! Since I was able to write down some memories about your Grandma and Grandpa Cook on their birthdays, I want to follow up with some stories of your Aunt Courtney. Let me tell you a little about your Mama’s youngest sister.
She is honest. Aunt Courtney is the one person in the family that you can bet she’ll tell you what you may not be willing to hear. But because she’s so rational and logical, and says things in the nicest way she can think of, you will listen to her.
She is imaginative. When Courtney was younger, she and her best friend Sara Spromberg, both passionate animal lovers, decided to create a clothing mail order magazine devoted to their cats. It was called “Balls and Bockers” and wasn’t named after their cats so much as after the different economic cat classes determined by Sarah and Courtney. Bockers were snooty and rich while Balls hailed from the other side of the tracks. Their magazine, drawn on fringed, college-lined notebook paper, went bankrupt in a week.
She is playful. You can see this mostly through her communications with the cousins. She has a silly dance that she does for and with Mally. She makes up stories consisting of the different adventures had by the household pets. She also has such a witty and obvious sense of humor that leaves most people thinking, “why didn’t I think of that?”
She’s an inventor. Every time she comes up with a new song, saying, voice or nickname, all of us start repeating it rather easily. We may not even know we’re doing it, but it’s usually so funny, creative or spot-on that we can’t help it. Your Aunt Courtney gave us such gems as “Niles dirty” (gross townie), “Hippie master” (someone whose ears poke out between strands of hair) and the squeaky-high baby voice that your Aunt Jessica does so well.
She was a rebel when she was younger. I have three stories to accentuate this point:
· The family was having a get-together at the lake cottage. We needed more buns, so Courtney (age 16) and our friend Meredith volunteered to go buy some. Your grandpa gave her permission to use his Corvette and once out of sight, Courtney stuck the pedal to the metal. Acting cool, she also lit up one of Grandpa’s smokes. As you can imagine (because this always happens when you speed or break the law, dear Oliver),”whoo-woo, whoo-woo,” a police car started following her. Courtney tossed the cigarette out the window and the policeman handed her four tickets for speeding, littering, driving without a license (oh, because she forgot it at home) and smoking underage. Courtney gave him some attitude and the cop decided to follow her back home (sans buns) because he wanted to talk with Grandma and Grandpa and didn’t believe Court when she said there wasn’t a phone at the lake. (This was before cell phones). They rolled up and your Grandpa ushered all of the kids inside. He was able to get the cop to lessen the tickets to 1 ticket – speeding, and didn’t talk with Courtney the rest of the night. Courtney was grounded and had to go to traffic school that summer. Your Aunt Courtney still believes that the policeman was a jerk because he saw a 16-year-old driving such a fancy car.
· When your Aunt Courtney was 17, she got a tattoo on her back. The legal age for getting a tattoo was 18 AND your grandparents had expressly forbidden it, so it was wrong on two counts. Courtney showed it off at school and her teacher took note of it. At the next parent-teacher conference she told your Grandma, who came home LIVID and grounded Courtney for a month.
· That same year, your grandparents went to watch the Michigan Wolverines win the Rose Bowl in Pasadena over our Christmas break. (GO BLUE) Aunt Jessica was…I don’t know, back in college, maybe. I went out with friends on New Year’s Eve and Courtney had a booze-filled party at home. To be clear, I didn’t know about the party until I came home in the wee hours of the morning and had to step over Courtney’s passed-out friends. Courtney was (again) grounded for a month.
That rebellion has morphed into fierce toughness as an adult. Before Mallory came along, your Aunt had two miscarriages. Never before had I heard her emotionless voice, so hollow, over the phone and I hope I never will again. It was a devastating time. But your Aunt and Uncle found the resolve to try one more time and we are so very proud and immeasurably grateful that they did.
But if you remember anything about your Aunt, remember that she is genuine. Your Aunt Courtney knows right from wrong and will support you fully if she agrees with you. She is the best person to have in your corner. Courtney stands up for the underdog and fights passionately for her beliefs, even if it means heated discussions with friends or family. She will love you to the moon and back, my boy, so remember that.
Me and your Aunt Courtney, pregnant with Mallory (2010)
Your Aunt Courtney, Mallory (6 weeks) and I
Aunt Courtney and you (6 weeks)
Happy Birthday Courtney! We love you very much!
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