The Pennies & the Whale

I was told a long time ago that once you start a blog, you need to get the first ten to twenty blogs down fairly quick, so that it will become a habit and you will be more likely to continue with it. I lead a fairly uneventful life. However, in an effort to be consistent, I am going to blog about random stuff in between the eventful stuff. Also, keeping with the mindset that someday (if I am blessed enough) my grandchildren or great-grandchildren may read this, I want them to know certain things about what I remember or who I was at certain times in my life.

My mom is really into geneology, and I think that most of that stuff is pretty interesting to a point. I like knowing that I have a distant relative that signed the Declaration of Independence and was the governor of North Carolina. But what I like more is getting to know the people themselves. Their character, their likes, their dislikes, their favorite book, what they thought about education, work, children and religion.

I was blessed enough to have known (and remember) two of my great-grandmothers. My Mammaw was my dad's grandmother on his mother's side and my Granny was my mom's grandmother on her dad's side. Both were fabulous women, and I do miss them. I am so thankful that I got to know them both though, and consider myself very lucky. (I will blog about Granny later.)

My Mammaw was named Naoma -- a name I love! She lived all her life in Snyder and was  a God-fearing, Christian woman with a big heart and a contagious laugh. Anytime we went to see her, she always had a pot of red beans on the stove. One of my earliest memories of her is right after my great-grandfather passed away & I think I was 4 or so. She came down and stayed a few days with my grandparents. We were out on the screened porch and Mimi had fixed the three of us sandwiches. I asked for some green olives and Mimi gave me some. As we were sitting there, I started sucking all of the pimentoes out of the olives and Mammaw laughed that fabulous laugh of hers and said, "You're just like Archie. He always did that, too!" It made me feel proud that I had something in common with him and that it made her laugh.

Another memory I have is one time my sister and I went to Snyder with my grandmother to visit Mammaw. Mimi was going to help her out by going to buy some groceries. In the parking lot of the grocery store was one of those traveling carnival type things with different types of attractions, but no rides that I can remember. I remember this for two very specific reasons: there was a whale and a whole lotta pennies.

In one of the trailers, there was an exhibit dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln. It had a poster of him in a glass case, which was filled with one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-five pennies. I was amazed because I had never seen soooo much money before and because I loved Abraham Lincoln. He was my favorite president that we had studied in school. It also had a replica of the wanted poster for the man who shot Lincoln, and it made me sad that he had been shot.

The next trailer was the one that scarred me for life. Inside was a dead whale. I guess that they had embalmed it so that it could travel from town to town, but there it was in all its glory, behind a glass case. Being the animal lover that I have always been, I was mortified when my sister pointed out the marks on the back side, and down by his tail. In my young mind, they were harpoon marks and this poor thing must have been killed violently! So, I started crying, thus prompting Mimi to take us back to Mammaw's. Later, when I was still upset, Mimi tried consoling me by telling me that they weren't harpoon marks, that they were probably scars from it getting ran over by ships and stuff. This devestated me even more and (I can still see & hear this) Mimi finally got exasperated with me and said, "Well, it didn't feel it!" (lol) I don't remember her ever taking me to a carnival like that again!

Often during those visits, Mammaw would always tell me how much I looked like Mary (my Mimi.) There was a particular picture of my grandmother when she was 16 or so, that hung on Mammaw's wall for years, and she would always point to it and tell me I looked just like Mary in that picture. Me, thinking that my grandmother was beautiful, always appreciated that Mammaw would say that.

In her later years, Mammaw couldn't stay by herself anymore so Mimi moved her to the nursing home there in Denver City. Ty and I were living in Lubbock, so I got to visit her quite a bit, but by this point she didn't know me anymore. She was such a sweet woman and I am so thankful that I got to know her. I look forward to being able to hear that laugh again some day!