My Grandmother, we call her MiMi, turned 100 years old on January the tenth. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to live for 100 years.
She has seen and experienced so many things in her life...
Cars were a relatively new invention when she was a young girl, the idea of a refrigerator in your kitchen to keep things cool or frozen was unthinkable, and television would have been like science fictions...Oh, wait they didn't have science fiction...but in her lifetime she would own more than one car,a refrigerator and even a deep freeze (where she always kept ice cream for coke floats or banana splits). She would even watch a man walk on the moon from her own television.
Not only did she see change she lived an adventure...
When she was a little girl she lived on a farm with her sister mother and father. MiMi always told me about her sister being bitten on the foot by a rattle snake...her father slit open a live chicken and put it on her foot to pump out the poison from the bite. MiMi's mother loved the country but at some point they moved to town...her mother just could not leave the country behind. She brought along some chickens and put them to roost in an upstairs room, or closed in porch. I've always wondered what the neighbors must have thought.
MiMi and her sister played music over the radio in exchange for lessons. MiMi played the saxophone and her sister played the piano. As a young girl I took a trip with her to visit her sister I got to hear them play together and even played along with them (when the songs were easy). She was on the girls basketball team in high school and has always claimed to be the star player...now who really knows...but it makes for a good story, so that is how I will always tell it. She and her mother came to live in Oklahoma during the depression. She worked in a diner for what we would consider spare change, all of her earning went into a jar on the kitchen table and were put towards food and general household expenses. She's always said she felt like one of the lucky ones...because it was so sad to see the men outside of the soup kitchens dressed as if they were going to work, but actually having no place to go. That is how she met my Grandfather (working in the diner)...isn't it wonderful how our path takes us to just the place we need to be. There are of course more stories I could tell...but well, I don't guess you have 100 years to listen.
She Taught Me...
MiMi taught me to love southern cooking...she made the best fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, fried okra...and collard greens (but she could never teach me to love those). For breakfast she served up biscuits with molasses, fried eggs and bacon...and she would always remind me that she had eaten eggs and bacon for most of her life and she was as healthy as a horse. MiMi taught me to cook many things, but mostly to make candy. we would make all kinds of Christmas candy and lick the spoons until our tongues were sore.
MiMi loved to paint and took countless classes on the subject...I loved looking at all of her paints and loved it even more when she would let me use them. She taught me to love and appreciate things that were made from the heart.
When I was really young I remember staying with her and she would send me out of the room when her friend came over to do Yoga...I had no idea what Yoga was, but I thought it must be a little bit questionable, because she always sent me out of the room...and when I would peek around the corner to see what they were doing they were always in some strange position. Of course I eventually learned that yoga was a form of exercise and was not strange at all.
I remember her singing the books of the bible to me when I was a girl, she asked if I knew the song...and, well I didn't...and even though I went to Sunday School I didn't know all the books of the bible...She informed me that when she was in the first grade she went to Bible School and came home singing that song and it almost drove her mother crazy. I was older than first grade so i made it my mission to at least learn most of the books of the bible. She taught me the importance of scripture and of knowing and understanding the bible.
I think MiMi would love the idea of blogging if she were younger, sharing ideas and reading about the projects and interest of others. I imagine pinterest would be something she would enjoy as well a virtual recipe swap, home improvement exchange... I don't know what she would think about video games in general, but I think she would like Wii Fit...she could get a daily dose of Yoga.
Happy Birthday MiMi...I love you...there is no way to say all that you are in this one little post, but you are a woman who made a difference...in my life.
My Family with MiMi...(back) LauraKate,Jennifer, Paul, (front) MiMi, AnnaBeth, and Luke
Not just 3, but 4 generations of us girls...Frankie, LauraKate, AnnaBeth, Jennifer and MiMi
Make every day count...they may just add up to 100 years. -Jennifer
