Happy Birthday, Mammaw Em

My own mother was born before her mom turned 30. That is no great news, except my mom was child number five. And my mammaw gave birth to four more children after my mom was born in 1925. That same grandmother died at the ripe old age of 98 some 26 years ago. 

What do I remember about the grandmother who complained that my parents never let us stay over unless they stayed, too? 

Or who lived in a house without an indoor toilet until probably the late 1960’s? 

Or one who made a mean pot of chicken and dumplings but who seemed to dirty up all of the pots and pans when preparing it? 

Or traveled an eight hour Continental Trailways bus ride to visit us and looked like she had just stepped out of the beauty shop when she stepped out of the bus? 

Or the same old lady at 71 (my age now😬) that I had to sleep with in the same double bed when she came for a visit? 

Or the grandmother who always wore a dress and usually an apron? 

Or the poor farmer’s wife who made her own furniture out of bits and pieces of old and broken furniture? 

Or the seamstress who not only made clothes for herself and her brood, but stitched up quilts that my own mother later remade? 

Or the mother who lived for years with an unmarried daughter and then outlived that child and one other one?

Happy Birthday, Mammaw Emily Francis New Ridge born on August 15, 1895.

❤️Linda