#315 - OA

My great-grandmother aka my paternal grandmother's mother.

Don't you just love this picture.  To me it says so much.  Old country house on lots of land.  Fireplaces and floor heaters instead of  central heat.  A rocking chair on the porch, just right for visiting.  What you can't see, but what I remember is that the way she is sitting, she was facing her neighbors yard and that neighbor was family.  If she would have looked kind of left and straight ahead, she would see a long line of oak trees on either side of the dirt road that extended from the highway to her front door.  Trees that were great for climbing and playing hide and go seek.  A yard that just made you want to be outdoors.

My great grandmother was born in 1891 and died at the age of 95 in 1986.  (someone check my math).  For the last several years of her life, she lived with my grandmother who cared for her at home.  I remember that MaMa Arceneaux had long gray hair down to her waist.  Every few days, my grandmother would wash her hair for her and dry it.  Then she would roll it up into a bun that sat right in the back of her head.  It would have been much easier to cut it short, but MaMa Arceneaux must have treasured those locks, and my grandmother left it as it was.  As I mentioned above, she lived until the age of 95.  Only the men seem to die young in my family.  My maternal grandmother turned 90 this week and my paternal grandmother is 85.  They are both going strong which makes turning forty a little easier.  If I live to be their age, that means I totally have not hit middle age yet!  :)

I was about 11 when my great grandmother died, and I remember visiting her home in Gonzales on the weekends as a child.  I remember in her living room, she had an old time sewing machine that you had to pump the pedal to make it go.  I remember that she had an outhouse in the back when the toilet was.  By the time I visited however, they had closed in one of the rooms and made an indoor bathroom.  I remember taking a bath in the claw foot tub.  I remember that she had a fireplace in the living room and in the bedroom.  I remember the whole family coming over to visit and squeezing into her tiny kitchen and living room for lots of good food and visiting.  When I was a teenager and was day dreaming about the book that I was going to write one day, I would always picture the setting at her house.  I could always think of a ton of adventures that could happen there. 

What great memories.  All three of my kids have had the great experience of getting to know their great grandparents.  I love it when they ask questions about the good old days and I know my grandparents love to tell them.  I hope that I live long enough and am healthy enough to experience this one day for myself.  I will be able to tell them all about Windows Explorer and the IPhone.  Who knows what we will have then?

Me and Ma Ma Arceneaux on the front porch.