Mary Ann (Molly) Brantley, Minda Maxey, Beulah Tunstall, Nettie Ott Medley, Wayne Kastning |
Granny Ott, Aunt Ann Morrow, my brother, Bruce and me. |
I didn't even
realize that today was Grandparents' Day until I read it on my Facebook
news feed. You see, I've been extremely
busy with school and I have been working in my classroom most of the day. I know that today is Sunday but as my Granny
Ott would say, "The ox is in the ditch." If you don't know or remember this verse, it
is Luke 14, 5-6.
Growing up in the
Ozarks kids typically spent a lot of
time with their grannies. Many young couples, like my parents, moved into
the home with the widowed mother. We
were surrounded by a lot of "granny women." My Granny Ott, of course, lived with us and
our neighbor, "Aunt Ann Morrow" was often at our home. My Great-Granny, Molly Brantley, who raised my mom,
would come and stay with us for several days at a time. Other granny women, including my Great Aunt
Nettie Medley, and my Great-great Aunt Mindy Maxey were very much a part of our
lives. The grannies would get together
to can, quilt, mend and just visit. The
kids were always playing near the grannies so even though it wasn't a conscious
thing, all Ozarks kids were influenced
by the granny women. Every story they
told had a moral. I'm pretty sure that
the episodes of Andy of Mayberry and the Andy Griffith Show were all written by
granny women because they all had a moral to the story.
These women were
our role models. They were strong - they
had lived hard lives. Many, as my
Granny Ott, widowed at a young age had to endure the depression and the dust
bowl. They sent their sons off to
war. The plowed the fields and harvested
the crops. They milked the cows and
butchered the hogs. Yes, they were strong.
But, they were also tender. They
could calm a scared child, gently "doctor" a skinned knee or a cut
finger. You knew the granny women loved
you. They taught us right from wrong and
how to be polite and respectful. The
lessons we learned sitting at their feet, while they shelled peas or peeled
peaches, were invaluable.
So, I say to all
the granny women in Heaven, who helped to
shape and mold me into the person that I am today: Thank you for all of your wisdom, your gentle
spirits and your guidance.
Oh boy, does this touch my heart! It's all true, Ozark kids had lots more than one "mother," they all had a say-so in our raising! Loved my Grandmothers so much, Aunts and older cousin too would correct us... we couldn't get with anything! I know they watch over us from Heaven and smile when they catch us carrying on old sayings!
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