Friday, July 16, 2010

Grandma Lowe Was Quite A Lady

Probably quite a character would be more accurate. A woman who dips snuff and speaks her mind no matter the place or  circumstance would not be called a lady today.  Grandma lost her first husband, leaving her with a boy and girl and 500 acres of land she had inherited. She married my grandpa, who was a widower with two boys, and they had five boys and one girl together.The stories I am going to relate are second-hand, but I heard them several times.

     I Must Have Been A Pretty Baby
Grandma grew up during a time that children were treated as not completely human and as if they didn't have feelings. She said as long as she could remember when relatives, neighbors, or even strangers visited they would look at her and say something like, "My, what an ugly child."  One day she addressed an aunt, saying   "I must have been a pretty baby."  Her aunt replied, "What makes you say that?"  Grandma explained that people look at an ugly baby and say she'll grow up to be  beautiful. "Since everyone says I'm ugly now, I must have been a pretty baby."  Her aunt replied, "No child, you've been ugly all your life." 

     Really Reading the News on the Dining Room Table
My dad and the grandparents moved from a home in Waldo, Ark. to a farm near Minden, La. in 1917. During the move a walnut dining table was scratched so grandma took it upon herself to repair it. She covered it with varnish, and I mean really covered it.  She thought she could  correct her mistake by blotting up some of the varnish by putting newspapers on the table.  The paper stuck and became part of the table and for years you could lift the table cloth and read war news of 1917.  The table was in daily use for more than 60 more years, including abuse by eight growing children. When mom died I hated to throw the table away but none of my siblings would take it.  I kept it although I have no use for it.  The newspapers have faded but a double banner headline can be read "Enormous German Losses   in Resumption of Picardy Battle."
   
      An Invitation to Grandma's Table   
The Lowes were active members of a Methodist Protestant church in Waldo but found no Methodist church nearby in their new community so they began attending a Baptist church which was little more than a mile away.  They were active churchgoers and Dad became in charge of youth programs.  As was the custom in rural churches, when services were over the pastor and family were invited to a home for dinner. This particular Sunday they were guests of the Lowes.  As it happened this was communion Sunday. Methodists practice open communion but Baptists limit communion to only that denomination and some to only that particular church.  As they became seated around the table, my grandmother turned to the minister and said, "You are welcome at my table today although I wasn't welcome at yours this morning."

      (Did I mention that Grandma had no problem speaking her mind?)

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