A True Southern Lady and The Lazy Susan

When I was in the third grade my family moved from Indiana to North Carolina.  Through family friends, my dad found a much better job opportunity.  As it happened, my mom had family in NC.  Several of my grandfather's (her father's) brothers and sisters lived here.  After our move, we lived in a small house at the end of the street and just down the street from Uncle Cliff and Aunt Jenny's house.  I loved living there because my mom's first cousin Hazel and her two children (Dee and David) lived with Uncle Cliff and Aunt Jenny.

Having spent so much time at my grandma and grandpa's house I was accustomed to having cousins close at hand to play with.  David was my age and in my class at school.  However, I spent most of my time with Dee.  She was several years older than me but we were two peas in a pod (okay I stole that from Forest Gump).  I always thought it was cool that Hazel, Dee and David lived upstairs in the attic.  It had been finished and there were two bedrooms up there.  I'm not sure why I was allowed to call Hazel by her first name.  As you know in the south a child just does not call an adult by their first name (at least 45 years ago they didn't).  Coming from the heartland, I had a lot to learn about living in the south.

We spent a lot of time in Uncle Cliff's home.  We always had Sunday lunch after church there.  Aunt Jenny was a good southern cook.  I had never had scratch biscuits before!  Aunt Jenny's dining room table had a huge lazy susan in the center of it.  Uncle Cliff made it!  On Sunday every inch would be filled with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and everything else good and always dessert.  Usually a pound cake.  You get the picture.  I loved eating at their house.  I especially liked the biscuits and spinning that lazy susan to get seconds.  Later when my dad and mom bought their first house, we were loaned a second table just like Aunt Jenny's that Uncle Cliff had made.  Wish we could have kept it.

Aunt Jenny and Hazel took it upon themselves to school me with southern manners (or else).  It was the two of them who impressed upon me the importance of saying yes ma'm and no ma'am, yes sir and no sir.   I guess I was pretty hard headed, but when they leveled their (stern) southern gaze upon me, it didn't take too long before I didn't forget to say my ma'ams and sirs! Looking back, I am grateful!  Once my Uncle Cliff jokingly told momma we were living like heathens because daddy had mowed the yard on a Sunday.  One of his neighbors had told him about it.  It was a message delivered with humor, but another lesson to be learned none the less.

I remember one particular Saturday not long before school was to start, mom had told me that we would be going shopping for school clothes later that day.  I took off on my bicycle to meet Dee at her house.  After grabbing a couple of Aunt Jenny's left over breakfast biscuits we headed out on our bikes.  That morning we decided we would form a club and our mission was trying to find a good place for a meeting place.  So just down the road we parked our bikes and headed into the woods.  We scouted out several different places, but eventually found fault with all the possible sites in that area of the neighborhood.  Scouting the woods apparently took us a great deal of time, because as we were emerging from the woods and approaching our bikes, our parents drove up.  Not realizing anything was up, but were just surprised and curious why they were there.

Well, remember I mentioned that day we were supposed to go shopping for school clothes.  When it was time to go, Dee and I were no where to be found.  We had both forgotten.  At the time I never fully understood why we were in so much trouble.  I mean there was still time for shopping!  Never the less, Dee and I were punished.  Our punishment was not withholding our bicycles or no TV.  It wasn't even early bedtime....to our sad astonishment, we were not allowed to play with each other or talk on the phone for two weeks!  Needless to say we did not take it well.  There was much crying, complaining and pouting and that was just on my end.

I only lived in the little house down the street from Dee for about a year.  Then we moved a little further out into the country.  Daddy and momma rented an old farm.  The man that owned the property, his wife wanted to live in town.  So as part of the rent daddy agreed to feed and tend to his cattle.  There were a lot of barns and buildings on the farm.  It had been a small old dairy and just behind the house was the building that had been the milking parlor.  As you come out of the parlor there was door to the left which led into a shower.  On the other side of that was a storage area which was probably where the milk once once stored.  Mom had a lot of extra stuff stored in there.  In the summer when it was so hot we would take our showers out in that little milk barn.  It was just made out of concrete blocks and the walls and floors were cool to touch on a hot evening.  When you were finished and walked out into the dark night air it would feel so cool and refreshing.

In the shower there was only one door in and at the back of the room was a two pane window that set up high above our heads.  We kept the shampoo and soap on top of the ledge there in front of the window.  One night when Dee was spending the night with me we were out there taking our showers.  Of course we were playing and taking entirely too long.  Well, something hit the window above us.  We screamed and crouched down against the wall under the window, we were scared to death.  We couldn't run over to get our towels or clothes because they were on the other side of the curtain, and whatever or whoever would be able to see us!  So we had crouched there for a good while and then we got to discussing who or what could just come around the building and come in the door.  So we screamed and grabbed our towels and ran to the house crying.  After daddy was able to understand what we were saying he went out to turn off the water and lights.  He searched behind the parlor and in the pasture and of course he found nothing.  Honestly, when I look back it was probably a bird, a bat or a bug!  But we just knew something was out there.  

I wish I had some pictures of Dee and myself to share.  I will have to get some from my mom!  We shared a lot of adventures together as young girls.  Interesting that JoCasta and Wayne now live just minutes from that farm near Pittsboro.  The first time I visited them after they moved it was like going home.

You know everyone who has lived in the south very long probably has someone they think of when they imagine the ultimate southern lady.  My Aunt Jenny was that person for me.  I told Harland once that in order to become a true southern lady there were a few things I had to accomplish.  I had to learn how to make scratch biscuits, make a pound cake and have a magnolia tree in my yard.  I still need that magnolia tree!  So tell me, what other things do you think a woman has to master to become a southern lady?