Bonjour!  Comment ca-vas?  J'suis tres bien, merci beaucoup!

Whoops!  I just realized something:  y'all probably don't speak Cajun.  Sorry about that!  (I just said 'Hello! How are you?  I'm fine, thank you very much!' in Cajun.)

Anyway, it's me, Teensy Fontenot of Lake Charles, Louisiana!  Hope this finds y'all well; I'm doing great!

We are going to go to Galveston, Texas, this weekend; we're leaving tomorrow.  We are going there to get away from home, even if for just the weekend.  It's just me, maman, and papa.  My cousin, Mattie, will be watched by maman's nurse friend, Carrolyn.

As you know, my cousin has special needs.  He's in a wheelchair and everything.  Don't really know what's wrong with him; I've asked, but maman won't tell me.  I wonder why; I hate it when she keeps things from me!

Is she trying to tell me that Mattie has something horrible, like AIDS or something?  I hope not!!

Mattie is too sick to travel.  He ends up in the hospital a lot, for one thing or another.  That's why he isn't going with us to Galveston.  I feel sorry for him because all he can do is lie there while other people take care of him, like he's a big baby or something.

He makes people uncomfortable when they come to our house.  They see him, and they stare or make comments, which bothers me.  I wish they'd learn to see Mattie as I do:  a beautiful little boy who deserves to be loved or treated with respect!!

I am back in school now.  I am in the sixth grade.  I would have been in seventh grade; it's just that I got held back because I pushed Rubie Broussard off the swing and she broke her arm as a result; got into an awful lot of trouble for that one.  I also flunked math class.  So there you go.

Rubie Broussard is a real know-it-all.  She thinks she's all that 'cause her daddy works in the oil industry and is a big cheese there.  She's really rich; she lives in a fancy mansion and has the best clothes.

She lives in the better part of Lake Charles, where all the rich snobs live.

It will be nice to go to Galveston, so I don't have to put up with Rubie and her rich-y friends pulling their noses up at me and treatin' me like I'm the garbage dump of Lake Charles, Louisiana!!

I also can play on the beach and get burnt to a crisp.  (Not really.  LOL)

Maman'd kill me if I did that!  LOLOLOLOL

Maybe I'll find a cute boy to talk to or get to know.  :)  (Hey, I'm nearly a teenager now; girls our age start thinkin' 'bout boys!)

Nah.  Better not; maman'd kill me for that, too.  LOL

Actually, as far as mamans go, mine's pretty dang good.  She puts up with a lot of guff from others, especially when it comes to my little cousin.  She doesn't like people makin' fun or saying mean things about him; she's like a crawfish:  get her mad, and her claws come up, quick!!

I'm like that, too, although, at times, I get mad at Mattie 'cause he has special needs.  I just wish he were like other little boys who can run around or play to their heart's content!

Gonna head on out of here.  Gotta finish packing for our Galveston trip.  Woo-hoo, it's goin' to be big fun on the BEACH!  I canNOT wait!!!!  Take care and may God bless you; this is Teensy Fontenot saying bye!!

~Love, Teensy, your Cajun friend in Lake Charles.