I had always admired my 16-year-old cousin Laurie from afar. I was only six, but she was beautiful and so confident and she seemed like an adult to me.
Laurie carried herself with a sureness that made me wish I was her brother or her boyfriend, even though I had no concept of what that meant at the time. When I found out that Laurie was going to babysit me, I was in a state of great excitement. She would be attentive to me all evening, and I would do my best to please her.