(109) A memorable person

I met her one Christmas in her daughter's house. The following summer I was her guest. She was one of those older generation who believed in cleanliness is next to godliness. Summer or winter, she awoke at dawn or earlier to get on with her cleaning. She got married at age fourteen and had her four girls young. They were well brought up and in turn have model children. If there was any weakness in her life, it was her nineteen year old cat. Nothing was too good for the feline.

That summer, we worked at their garden. I had my first taste of raw corn newly harvested. It was filled with simple fruit sugar, it actually tasted like fruits. We had steaks grilled in open air, filled with the smoke of hickory sticks. I tagged along when her husband fished in the reservoir lake. They tried unsuccessfully to get me to water ski. They were very kind and hospitable. They were well to do then, but they did not forget they were poor and struggling in their youth. "Paw-Paw D' was a miner before he got married. Mama D came from a family with a good blood line who lost their ancestral wealth.

Looking back, it was funny what I recalled. I thought of her look when she declared she didn't like to die and pass on her hard earned money to her children. She was displeased with what they would do with her money. One would buy a four wheel drive without hesitation. Another would renovate her house to her heart's delight. The third would change to a bigger house. The last would slowly give the money to her children. I just listened to her then. I wished to have the presence of mind to ask what she would have approved of, investing the money? Saving it? Of course she was only in her mid-fifties then, no where near death.

*BLilly.jpg from health.nashville.gov