We need to be more like Granny

You hear a lot of complaining these days about having to prepare all of our meals at home and not being able to get out and “do” things. I hate to admit it, but I’ve been guilty of it, as well. Then when I think about my Granny, I feel ashamed of myself and our society as a whole.

Granny ALWAYS fixed three meals a day. She and Granddaddy just didn’t go out to eat. Every great once in a while, they might go get a hamburger. Occasionally, one of their kids would take them out to eat Mexican food or fried catfish. But I’m talking less than a half-dozen times a year, total! Not only did Granny prepare all of their meals, she always washed AND DRIED dishes after every meal. No letting the dishes air-dry for her! She dried and put away every dish. Then she took the rinse water, which was collected in a plastic (at least in my time) dish pan, and watered her flower beds with it.

Granny never learned to drive. So, if she needed something from the grocery store (which was about a mile from her house), she either had to wait for Granddaddy to take her after work or walk. Needless to say, she made the most of her shopping trips. Other than that and going to church 3 times a week, she didn’t get out much…unless someone was needing to be taken care of (like us when Momma was sick and in the hospital). She didn’t really have much time for getting out anyway. She was busy keeping house, mowing the grass (pretty much for the whole block), tending to her garden, taking in ironing, taking care of grandkids and/or the two foster children she took in. In her “free” time, she was sitting at the kitchen table or telephone desk, with her magnifying glass in one hand and her bible in the other. (She did like to listen to “Swap Shop” on the radio while she ironed!)

I spent a lot of time with Granny. As I mentioned, she often came to take care of us when we were younger and Momma was down. I spent as much time as I could in the summertime at her house. Plus every holiday was spent there…along with all of the other cousins and aunts and uncles. In all of that time, I can’t ever remember her complaining about having to cook all of the time or about not being able to get out and around.

Even though Granny was special to all of our family, she was pretty typical for women in her generation. They worked long hard hours and stayed at home most of the time. They lived for serving others…their families, in particular. They exemplified the Proverbs 31 woman. Even though “times have changed”, people still have the same basic needs and wants. Society may have convinced us that we deserve more out of life than our grandmothers (or great-grandmothers) had, but do we really? Is it really so bad to stay home and take care of our families? Do we really need to spend so much of our time on entertainment and other pastimes? Do we really need to be served, rather than serving others?

This was just running through my mind today as I was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch. Thought I’d share it for your perusal. As Ricky would say, “Take it or leave it. It’s your life. Do what you want.”