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Trashley: Fifty-One

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Lauren Reeves
18 min readSep 9, 2024

I spent the afternoon with Cecelia’s entire family: her parents, sisters, hundreds of nieces and nephews, and several neighbors. They welcomed Michelle and me into their home, where removing our shoes was optional. *Hulk Hogan voice* Hell yeah, brother. The way Ashley and her mom had described Cecelia’s family couldn’t have been further from the truth. These were good, kind-hearted people who were all about family. They didn’t care about material possessions or what kind of Tesla you drove. A membership to the Bakersfield Country Club wasn’t the height of luxury or their aspiration.

A bunch of stars.

Cecelia’s twin sister gave me a tour of her garden, where she grew every vegetable known to man. I used to think gardening was boring until the Pandemic, when I grew a single strawberry. The kids climbed oak trees and ran through the sprinkler in the backyard while the adults drank wine, beer, and homemade margaritas in the sunroom. Cecelia’s Dad told us stories about growing up in the Louisiana Bayou and how he’d met their mom. He was a natural storyteller, tall and gentle, and you could still hear the light remnants of a southern drawl despite spending a significant portion of his life in Minnesota. Cecelia’s Mom was cheery and bursting with Midwestern grandma warmth, like a loaf of sourdough bread that had just been pulled out of the oven. After a few glasses of…

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Lauren Reeves
Lauren Reeves

Written by Lauren Reeves

Comedy Writer, Humorist, TV Producer, Cool Gay Aunt 🌈 thelaurenreeves.com

Responses (3)

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I thought that Adeline Dimond was the love of my life until I just spent TWO DAYS reading this. I am sobbing because I read it all. I love you beyond all reason.

Ashley: Cluster B Personality Disorder: Narcissism at minimum
No Contact is the only solution when dealing with sociopaths/malignant narcissists
Yes, they can make authorities believe you are a bad person.. they fool authorities like they fooled you
The…

I would have bet Cecilia, that kids, and you end up as the dream family - fortunately, I haven’t found anyone betting against me 😄