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| Granny Annie and Papa Jim |
“This is the South and we’re proud of our crazy people. We don’t hide them up in the attic, we bring them right down to the living room to show them off. No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family, they just ask what side they’re on.”—Dixie Carter
This author of this blog has an addendum to that quote: “And typically, the answer is ‘both sides.’”
I have always loved this quote by Dixie Carter. I’m not really sure that people in other parts of the country can fully comprehend the amount of eccentrics that we have living ‘round these parts.
I, being of Southern decent, can tell you with my hand on a Bible, my family tree is chock-full of crazies. The eccentricity runs deep. Just like Dixie, I am not ashamed. Hell, this is a perfect explanation as to how I came to be, and I will fully admit that I am a bit eccentric.
Today, I would like to highlight a certain family member. I never had the opportunity to meet her. But from all the stories that I’ve been told, I surely wish I could have. My great-grandma was named Annie. Annie was quite the character. She was brash and brazen and headstrong and sassy and you knew where you stood with her. She was a tough old bird and full of grit.
My Granny Doris (her daughter-in-law) once said: “She was a character in a character. She played music with spoons and tap danced. She was feisty and once yelled at a man that had snubbed her in Chiefland: ‘You don’t speak to me, you S.O.B., I spanked your ass when you came into this world and I can whoop it now!’”
This author of this blog has an addendum to that quote: “And typically, the answer is ‘both sides.’”
I have always loved this quote by Dixie Carter. I’m not really sure that people in other parts of the country can fully comprehend the amount of eccentrics that we have living ‘round these parts.
I, being of Southern decent, can tell you with my hand on a Bible, my family tree is chock-full of crazies. The eccentricity runs deep. Just like Dixie, I am not ashamed. Hell, this is a perfect explanation as to how I came to be, and I will fully admit that I am a bit eccentric.
Today, I would like to highlight a certain family member. I never had the opportunity to meet her. But from all the stories that I’ve been told, I surely wish I could have. My great-grandma was named Annie. Annie was quite the character. She was brash and brazen and headstrong and sassy and you knew where you stood with her. She was a tough old bird and full of grit.
My Granny Doris (her daughter-in-law) once said: “She was a character in a character. She played music with spoons and tap danced. She was feisty and once yelled at a man that had snubbed her in Chiefland: ‘You don’t speak to me, you S.O.B., I spanked your ass when you came into this world and I can whoop it now!’”
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| Granny Annie and her juke box. |
Speaking of her love of music, she was the first in Cedar Key to have a juke box.
When Granny Doris told me about Papa Cecil’s birth, I was made aware of just how tough Granny Annie really was. “Annie (Cecil’s mama) was painting the ceiling on top of the piano the night before Cecil was born, and was plowing the field not long after she gave birth.” The kicker? Papa Cecil was a 14 lb. baby.
Daddy told mom of toolin' around with Granny Annie when he was a little boy, and she would drive up to the Ice House in Cedar Key and just lay on the horn until my Papa Cecil would come out.
Yes, she was quite the character.
But, she was apparently also the first to go around collectin’ money for someone who’d fallen sick or had some tragedy happen. So, as tough as she was, and as brash as she could be, she did have a heart of gold.
Although I never had the pleasure of meeting her, I would like to think that she’d have been a little like Ouisa from Steel Magnolias. Sassy, with grit and strength, with a heart of gold. And with that in my bloodline...well, I can't complain.
When Granny Doris told me about Papa Cecil’s birth, I was made aware of just how tough Granny Annie really was. “Annie (Cecil’s mama) was painting the ceiling on top of the piano the night before Cecil was born, and was plowing the field not long after she gave birth.” The kicker? Papa Cecil was a 14 lb. baby.
Daddy told mom of toolin' around with Granny Annie when he was a little boy, and she would drive up to the Ice House in Cedar Key and just lay on the horn until my Papa Cecil would come out.
Yes, she was quite the character.
But, she was apparently also the first to go around collectin’ money for someone who’d fallen sick or had some tragedy happen. So, as tough as she was, and as brash as she could be, she did have a heart of gold.
Although I never had the pleasure of meeting her, I would like to think that she’d have been a little like Ouisa from Steel Magnolias. Sassy, with grit and strength, with a heart of gold. And with that in my bloodline...well, I can't complain.
grt
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