Thursday, March 23, 2006

Mammaw

This is my grandmother, Fannie Mae Winfree Gunstream.

This photo was taken when she was in her early 20s. She died February 28, 1987 at the age of 92. If she had been elderly these days, she would have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Back in those days, we called it going senile.

I didn't want to laugh. She was my grandmother and I loved and respected her. But some of the things she would say and do were just so funny.

Once it became apparent that she could no longer live alone, she moved in with my oldest aunt and her husband. A little while later, Aunt Martha and Uncle Verne decided to build a new home out on the old Winfree homestead, near their daughters and their families. So they sold their home and moved in with their youngest daughter for a few months while they built their new house right next door.

After a few weeks, the foundation of the new house was laid, and the framing was up. By this time, Mammaw had gotten to the point where she could not be left alone for any length of time.

It was my turn to stay with her when she pulled off her shoe and sock and showed me an almost perfectly round sore on the top of her foot. According to my uncle, she clonked her foot on the corner of the dresser. Mammaw had a different story.

"Do you see that sore? Do you know how I got that? Do you see those men? They're over there building one of those places. You know, where they keep them kind of women. I went out there to tell them to stop and they shot me in the foot! Can you believe that? There ought to be a law against shooting an old lady in the foot."

I tried not to laugh.

Really.

I did.

Quote for the Day

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"


-- Patrick Henry (Speech to the Virginia Convention, 23 March 1775)

2 comments:

Buck said...

That's a great picture of your grandmother; she was a beautiful woman. Old pictures (say, from 1940 and earlier) have a quality that newer photos just don't seem to have. Maybe it's because most of those photos were taken by pros, or maybe it's the film/emulsion. Whatever. I DO love 'em, though!

Becky G said...

I agree about the old pictures. That one was taken between 1915 and 1920. I don't know if it is so much the quality of the picture itself that appeals to me as the quality of the person in the picture. Back then, when life was a lot tougher than it is now, people developed a quality of character that is so rare in people today.