The Rerouted Skytress

My Dad always said my youngest niece, Megan, was put on Earth to entertain us. On Sunday, February 28th, Megan will celebrate her 21st birthday. For those following along, that means Megan has been our free entertainment for 21 years. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s been free entertainment. We do give her gifts on her birthday, Christmas and on many occasions when we can’t help ourselves. And if Linzer cookies are considered an acceptable form of payment…..well then, I’ve made quite a few deposits into Megan’s entertainment fund. Thankfully for me, Megan loves Linzer cookies! Mostly, though, we are Megan’s best…cheap audience. We do double over in laughter more times than not. That has to count for something, right?

When Megan was a wee little one I used to ask her what her name was. She would animatedly proclaim her name was, “Sassy”. It cracked me up. If she would have said, “Spitfire”, I would have completely agreed with this moniker, too. Miss Sassy loved watching Scooby Doo cartoons when she was little. She would methodically place her chair directly in front of the TV and climb up into it with her much-loved Eeyore in tow. Megan would become so transfixed on the cartoon she would ignore everyone and everything around her. Then, as if she couldn’t quite believe she was actually watching the cartoon, she would turn to whoever was in the room with her and exclaim, “Scobby Doo!” Just as quickly as she proclaimed this, she would turn back to the TV and go back into her Scooby Doo trance. Every once in awhile she would shout out she needed some “Oat-Me-Meal”. I never corrected her on her pronunciation of oatmeal. When Miss Sassy said, “Oat-Me-Meal” my heart would melt from the utter cuteness. To this day, I will tell my crew I am going to have some “Oat-Me Meal”. Shockingly, my crew doesn’t look at me with complete adoration like I did with Miss Sassy. But, I always smile. I flashback to young Megan sitting in her chair with her beloved Eeyore. It’s all I can do to stop my Skytress self from squealing “Scooby Doo!”

Megan always had an innate ability to entertain us. One day when Megan was finally tall enough to reach the light switch, she took great delight in flipping the lights on and off. My Mom and I chuckled as we watched her. Finally, my Mom decided we were encouraging bad behavior. So she said, “Megan. No. No” Without skipping a beat, Megan shook her pointer finger at my Mom and said, “No. No”. With her other hand she continued to flip the lights on and off. My Mom and I started to laugh. Megan laughed, too. Yes. The best entertainers always know how to make their audience laugh. We make Megan laugh when we remind her she used to go behind the living room chair to go potty. Ah, potty training. Megan was not a fan of it when she was a toddler. Megan loved to run and hide behind my parent’s wing back chair in the living room to go potty. We always knew what Megan was doing when she would sneak off. Of course, we would call to Megan and ask if she needed to use the potty. She would refuse to answer. Then she would reappear as if nothing had happened in the living room. It was quite the performance. Not a believable performance. But, a performance nonetheless. Some of Megan’s best dramatization came when she was trying to convince someone into giving her ice cream. Megan would sweetly ask an unsuspecting adult if she could have some vanilla ice cream to eat. Vanilla was her favorite. When she would be denied she would plead her case. She would ultimately petition for just a glob of ice cream. A glob was a big scoop. Not a full cup of ice cream. Why it was barely eating ice cream in Megan’s world. Much to Megan’s chagrin, she rarely won the ice cream debate. It was quite entertaining for the rest of us to see her try, though. These days when we have ice cream, we ask Megan if she would like a glob. Funny enough….It’s become a favorite family expression.

My sister says Megan is just like me. I take this as a wonderful compliment. I think I am fabulous! My sister means Megan has inherited my love of cleaning and organizing. Yep, it’s still a compliment, as far as I am concerned. When Megan was a little girl, she used to put all her stuffed animals in the hallway before she went to bed. She wanted a clean room to go to sleep in. It was quite the nightly ritual. My sister finally told Megan she couldn’t do this. However, she did allow Megan to lay her clothes out to wear the next day. Megan would carefully place each piece of clothing on her bedroom floor. It resembled a body at a crime scene. A little police tape and no one would have questioned whether there had been a crime committed in Megan’s room. Lucky for me, Megan always wants organizational items for her Christmas and birthday gifts. Oh, this warms the cockles of my heart. I try not to the one that always buys her organizational items. But, it makes us both so happy. So I succumb….a lot. Many times when something needs to be cleaned or organized, Megan is called to tackle the job. After my Dad passed away I cleaned out his office file cabinets. Stacks of papers needed to be shredded. It was a daunting task. My Dad loved to make multiple copies of important papers. I didn’t mind going through the files to determine what needed to be shredded. I did discovered, though, I loathe shredding paper. Fortunately, Megan told me she would shred all the files. I still marvel at her persistence in shredding the enormous stacks of papers. I did pay Megan to shred the papers. I didn’t pay her in Linzer cookies, either. No. Real hard cash was exchanged. Two things I love about Megan….she is a hard worker….and she loves money. It’s true. Megan really IS just like me!

You may recall Megan’s sisters were into dance when they were younger. Megan tried dancing. But, she decided early on that dancing was not for her. Well, expect for Wii Nintendo dancing. Megan was exceptional at this type of dancing. Her enthusiasm even got me to bust a move or two. Thankfully, there is no footage of my two moves. Even though Megan excelled at dancing to “Iko Iko” and “Viva Las Vegas”, soccer was her true passion. The kicker….I couldn’t help it…is that Megan was… and I am quite positive… still is, a wonderful soccer player. Megan played soccer for an elite soccer team in St. Louis. She also played on her high school soccer team. She was a captain on the team. At one point Megan played so much soccer I would tease her that she played more than the professional players did. Megan reluctantly gave up soccer several years ago when she went to college. We knew it was a hard decision for her. However, she wanted to concentrate on her college studies. I’m proud to say, Megan also excels when it comes to her education.

Megan is extremely smart. Ah, something else we both have in common. Megan is following in her Mom’s footsteps by studying to become a physical therapist. Megan is a third-year student at St. Louis University. The physical therapy program is a six-year program. This summer Megan will have her gross anatomy classes. I can only imagine the dinner discussions at the Hamill house. I remember dinners at our house when my sister took gross anatomy. Let’s just say it was gross. I will relish the day I get to call Megan, “Dr. Megan”. However, she shouldn’t be surprised if we call her Dr. Meggie-Moo. She is after all, Meggie-Moo to her family. What happened to “Sassy” you ask? Sadly, “Sassy” was just a childhood phase Megan quickly grew out of.

Megan is very creative. This is definitely a common trait of the Hamill sisters. There isn’t a Hobby Lobby or Michael’s that is safe from the likes of Megan and her sisters. Much to my amusement, Megan and her sisters use store items as props for their impromptu videos. Talk about entertaining! Megan’s TikTok posts are just as entertaining. I am amazed with her synchronization and creativity. Megan may get frustrated when her sister Jamie gets over 20,000 views on a TikTok post. But, I gleefully cheer at Megan’s creativity and execution every time she posts something. I admit. I am a fabulous fan and audience.

Megan is not only entertaining. She is also an incredible young woman. She has always volunteered at church with her sisters. She is quick to help those in need. Whether it be a friend or a stranger. Megan was also the catalyst for throwing marvelous birthday parties for my brother up at the high school. Our family will forever be grateful for this. As you can easily tell, Megan embodies love. Megan is a beautiful blessing to us all. My Dad was correct when he said Megan was put on Earth to entertain us. I can only imagine the journey Megan will take in her lifetime. I do know it will be a joyful, happy journey. It couldn’t be anything else. For Megan is the entertainer. Lucky for us, we get to be her audience.