Annie's Little Known Facts

Everyone in the Atkin family will smile if you mention the phrase "Annie's Little Known Facts".

When we were younger, we (the kids) viewed Annie as the expert on everything. She was so much older that we thought she must know everything about everything. She didn't disappoint. She always had an answer to every question. The problem was, that she didn't know everything. So if she didn't know the answer, she would make something up. Or if we were having a discussion and she wanted to show us all how knowledgeable she was on the subject, she would tell us a "little known fact" (made up on the spot) to impress us, and prove that she indeed was the all knowing, cool older sister.

This was fine, and very entertaining for her, I'm sure, but it actually had lasting influence. To this day I am still finding that things I have held as true for years actually originated from Annie's imagination. I think that once she convinced Amy that cold water boiled faster than warm water. :) But that is another story.

The story that makes me laugh the most is the story if mom's silverware. Mom has several sets of silverware. One is slightly less pleasing to the eye than the rest, in my opinion. For years, I haven't been able to eat off of that set, and if my place was set with that kind of silverware, I would actually get up and switch it out. The only reason I really had was some vague uneasiness toward that set of silverware, something about a horrible Indian curse. I know it originated from Annie. She told me that if I used it I would die. I must have been pretty young when she told me this, because it is so blurry, and I don't ever remember actually eating off of that silverware. However, it made quite the impact on my young mind. Annie is good at telling stories, and probably added all sorts of terrible details, just for fun, and scared that tiny April to death. It sounds silly, but I still get uncomfortable when someone uses that silverware, and I still can't use it myself, even though I know that no such Indian curse exists.

Thank you, Annie.