Oh, Laura, Laura, Laura! It's been so long since I wrote an individual blog about this kid. Can I still call her a kid if she's north of 30 years old? I think so; like everyone else in this family, Laura doesn't look or act her age so we're good. I'm about 30 myself if truth was told. Laura, who can't drink alcohol and probably really wouldn't be much of a strong drinker if she could, is always carded if she walks into a liquor store. She hasn't been 18 in over 13 years at this point, but she looks like a bubbly bouncy babe with her next to ginger looks and that flash of a toothy grin that no one is quite sure if she's being seriously mischievous or just really tart.
I raised this one with the other two, and like the other two, she's apt to be just like her mom and tell you exactly what's on her mind! She won't hold back and God help you if you cross her. We're Stringfellows, we tend to be a bit vocal about most things. Unlike the other two, Laura was born in the middle of the brood. Reuben claims the eldest while wee Caity claims the favored baby slot. Poor middle child Laura, can't you just hear her complaining now about it? She was never ever ever loved as much as the others and you know she had to work so much harder, longer, stronger, bigger, better, and with loads more courage than the others without a shred of appreciation. God bless, I'm so glad she's not a teen again, I really couldn't take much more of it now!
Laura decided a few years back to be my roommate. It wasn't as if I needed one, but rather she felt it was the best decision to both save money and have a riding mate at all times. In her mind, if she was living in my house she could benefit from having me cook (because I do) and she wouldn't be expected to do the dishes, having traded that chore for permanent trash taker-outter, as well as permanent cat litter scooper. It's her fault that we have 3 cats living with us currently. Left to her we'd have rescued baby geese, squirrels, geckos and other woodland wild life on a daily basis. Owning dogs, cats,and horses is truly enough! (ENOUGH ALREADY LAURA, NO, the skunk's mother is probably looking for him. PUT HIM BACK!)
Being a Taurus, Laura will never change her duties at home but the good thing is, because she's a Taurus, I know at any minute of any day exactly where she is, what she's doing. I can assume she'll be in the exact same spot tomorrow too because Tauruses just DO NOT CHANGE easily. It was hard enough to convince her that she really really can go to another restaurant now and again; it's OK to try new food SOME TIMES. Besides being slightly unmoving regarding likes and tastes in take out, Tauruses also tend to be predictable, easy going and once they make a decision that's the decision we all have to work with for eternity.
On a fun note, with her streamer/gaming mind, brilliant voice, charm and wit, Laura has become an international fan favorite to a few thousand people on various online gaming platforms. She uses VR (virtual reality) to interact in "rooms" and has "owned" her on faction, leading battles and what not way up into the middle of the night most of the time. I hear her cackling, even screaming at times in sheer laughter over some of the most incredibly strange events that no amount of explanation to me will suffice. There is just no way I will understand Second Life gaming and whatever they call it now when you turn your characters into other characters to troll and stalk your friends and enemies for the sole purpose of catching each other in vulnerable situations. I'm told on nearly a daily basis how I wouldn't understand, and because I'm not really sure I want to understand, I just let it go. I don't believe many of the thousands who follow and play with her actually know of her incredible singing talents. Laura has sung locally of course, but nationally, and internationally. She's created over 600 videos with duets including famous singers, not-so famous singers, and of course her own solo works. When people ask me who my favorite singer(s) is I usually say my own daughter. I'm not lying, she's amazing.
Being a mom, friend, and roommate to Laura means I am placed in situations where I've had to lie to bosses about her not showing up for work, I've bailed her out of scrapes and scruffs, but whether I lived with her or not I'd be doing that. I mentioned Laura can't drink alcohol. A few years back she was bucked off her horse and she hit the ground pretty hard. A shake when up her spine, forever curving it just enough to affect the central nervous system. She now becomes dehydrated easier than most of us, and alcohol actually dries you out, it doesn't replenish you with hydration. She can't drink even a little without shriveling up, tingling and cramping to the point of being hospitalized rather quickly. No party or social gathering would be worth that experience again. To compensate for not being able to be the loud party girl she never wanted to be, Laura is the forever friend to too many at once online. I never know what's going on in that room of hers, but there are dozens of voices coming out of her talented head. Disney characters, Pokemon, Harry Potter favorites, she's a ball of laughs and I do sometimes wish I could be in on one of the rooms to hear the reactions of the others who beckon her to be "Stitch" and then "Ariel" or Glenda the Good Witch. (Side Note: She'll never beat me at voicing the Wicked Witch of the West. I could never hold a candle to her singing, but the WITCH IS MINE! BACK OFF!) LOL.
Laura's room is not always the room of an older more adult person, that's for sure. If she were judged by the appearance of the room itself she'd be somewhere between "I DON'T CARE MOM, LEAVE ME ALONE" and "It doesn't matter, no one comes up here anyway". I was smart and got Laura into horses when she was only a girl, and it's been a great replacement item for men. She won't date anyone without a farrier or vet reference. Anyone thinking about or assuming they can date Laura will have to take 2nd place to a 1200 pound gelding with a very kind eye. Any man who says "But Laura, you haven't spent time with me, you've been at the barn four times this week", will be met with "FOUR? It's Thursday, it should have been FIVE!" Having horses can actually be a really good thing. It weeds out the would be suitors for sure. If any man really truly wanted to sweep Laura off her feet he'd have to tie Leo up first, or catch her before she goes to the pasture to retrieve him.
One last note about my mournful, soulful, ever companioned middle child; Laura can be pretty tough to convince to change her mind about something, but she also won't ever quit on a friend, having that Stringfellow built in defense mechanism allowing her to champion her inner Super Hero instantaneously! I'm not saying she wears a cape (anymore) but she would if the cosplay required it. She won't allow herself to hate anyone even if they've burned her in the past. She forgives. She may not forget, but she does forgive. (Who am I kidding, she's a freaking Taurus, she doesn't forget, but she does forgive and that's a good thing. A very good thing.)
Yes, I raised this one right on the political side of things and on the spiritual side as well. Born again, and waiting on Jesus to return, He and I both know where she'll be when that day and moment comes. She'll be strapped to her VR gizmo, dancing, laughing, singing in someone beloved character's voice about whatever the chat is about at that moment. She may never wash a dish, but she's a giver not a taker - - and that's good enough for me.
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