Mary the Hairdresser's Sister Berniece

When the sons were small thay absolutely HATED having their hair washed. I tried everything to make it less of a battle between us. We bought some halo looking rubber thing to encircle their head and keep the water out of their faces. Then there was the spray hose doo dad that looked like a dinosaur. Then I tried to wash their hair while they were sitting up in the tub, laying down with thier head toward the drain, upside down dipping their head into the water as if they were a chip I was dipping. I didn't really do the last one but mostly because I didn't think about it till now.

In stepped Mary the Hairdresser's sister Berniece.

Mary the Hairdresser is a real person. In fact, she was the hairdresser for one of my Aunts. I suppose she had a real last name but she was always known as Mary the Hairdresser. She was as much a part of our extended family as anyone else and she even came to my Aunt's funeral. I have no idea if she had a sister so I gave her one.

Mary the Hairdresser's Sister Berniece sprang into life as a hairdresser herself. The sons would have "appointments" with her and while she washed their hair she talked to them in a Balmer accent rich with Hon's and Stoshes and Mune-i-sip-all buildings and 'gone down the ocean, hon'.
While Berniece chatted away with her stories the boys would become so engrossed in the story that their hair got washed without tears or fussing. Thanks to Mary the Hairdresser's Sister Berneice who just happened to look just like ME!!! What a co-incidence.

And just the other day, when I was ripping apart magazines for my gluw books, I can across a sentence that I just had to have. It read Berneice is not a Hon. Huh?? What??? Holy moley. So maybe Berneice is real.

Who knew? I didn't.