IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD

There is very little that Hillary Clinton ever did or said

that I admired... Except the one statement

she alway quoted:

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD

If there was ever one of us that was

raised by this motto more than another it was Minta.

Now Minta and I are here to prove to all of you

a spoiled rotten child will not always grow up to 

be a irresponsible adult.

Minnie came into our family when Mone was

40 and Joe was 48.

I was 16 and was so excited to have another niece.

She was connected at all of our hips.

I often compare her to those stuffed monkeys with the

long arms and legs that velcro around your neck and waist.

You didn't have to hold her, she just hung on.

It didn't matter who you were as long as you were family

and willing to hold her, she clung to you.

If you put her down she cried until the next person picked her up.

She was so tiny we all loved wearing her around.

Joe could not tell this girl no, I don't think she heard the word

until her Dad died when she was 9.

I can't speak for anyone else but I remember when Joe died 

I felt so sorry for Minnie and made a conscious decision

to be special in her life and to help Mone in any way I could.

I think many of us did.

Was that a good thing? At the time we weren't sure but

just a year later when Mone found out she had cancer,

Minnie was already used to being with all of us.

So the Collins "village" all came up to the plate

to make sure that this girl of ours would be okay.

We took her everywhere, made sure she ate, went to school,

Mom mostly took care of Mone while we took turns taking 

care of Minta. Oh, and sometimes the girl could drive you crazy.

Many days after school she would come to my house and

many days she had conduct slips for talking or not 

staying in her desk, when I would question her about it 

she'd be saying she didn't know what was wrong with her teacher.

The girl HATED, HATED school,

how ironic she would be a teacher.

Once Mone was better, Minnie still expected us all to do for her

and I didn't mind... well sometimes I did mind.

Like when Mone would call to see if I could go pick her

up at South Lafourche, sometimes to myself I would

think, why doesn't that girl take the bus?

So I would stop what I was doing to drive to school 

and the minute I would see her with that big smile 

I would take back all the negative thoughts I had.

You see, that is how she won us all over, she was just so darn cute!!!

Then when she became a teenager, she loved hanging out at my

house. She and Roddie were 6 years apart and they both

loved horror movies. She would come over for one night to 

watch scary movies with Roddie and wouldn't leave.

I remember one summer I had to ask her if she was going to 

go home or should we go pack so she could move in.

At that time, however, I had grown to love her company.

It was a break from staying home with two rug rats all day.

She helped entertain my kids and many nights, I would go to 

bed and listen to she and Roddie talking about all kinds of things.

She was a good influence on him, he loved it when she would come sleep.

So, once again, time has played that trick on us and

the little spoiled girl is now about to have her own baby.

Because of our village, she has grown into this beautiful young

wife who is going to be a wonderful mother.

She asked me at Christmas time if she could name her 

baby daughter, Lillian,

"What? Are you Kidding me?"

What an honor that she and Duane would love my 

name enough to honor me with naming their

first born Lillian.

Yes, this child will be born into this village we call family

and with her wonderful parents, we will be

there to support them on their journey with

this baby girl.

It takes a village to raise a child 

I am so glad that I have been a part of this village.