My daughter and I finally got around to talking about her conference, she really learned a lot and enjoyed it. She especially liked the speaker at the conference who was from Kentucky. She told me a lil' story about this women, it got me thinking about my family..............all those Southern relatives of mine!
My grand daddy, Grady Henry Noland, was born in Sherman, Texas. He was the baby out of seven children. His mother who was originally from Georgia, raised her seven children mostly by herself. Her husband was a drifter, who would leave her for years at a time and then one day...........just surface again. The family made their living as sharecroppers. Traveling where and whenever there was work, so they moved often.
My granny, Bertha Ann Coursey/Noland, was born in Wyatt, Louisiana. She was the fourth child of twelve children. Her mama was Cherokee, English and French. Her father was Irish. They too were sharecroppers, moving often.
Both families eventually landed in Marked Tree, Arkansas working farms. That is where my grandparents met and married. We have a large family cemetary in Jonesboro, Arkansas, not far from Marked Tree.
Eventually my grandparents moved to Arizona. My grand daddy eventually started making his own hard, earned cash by building lil' shotgun houses for the soldiers during the forties. This eventually earned him enough to buy a small ranch and build a home for the family. He raised cattle.
The speaker at the conference, told the group about her mama's favorite word..........it was "P.L.O.M. people"............which stood for, "poor lil' ol' me." I grew up knowing things like this, it's something that happens when you are raised by Southerners. Sayings like: "gettin' all the good and plenty out of something," meaning you had to wear it out before you got another. "Shit fire," which my grand daddy said when something went wrong, the only cuss word I ever heard him use. I say it now, but tame it a bit with "shoot fire," my middle grandson likes to use it also........frequently! "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit," when you couldn't believe something, kinda like "all be." "Sister," his nickname for his daughter, "Poor lil' ol thing," something usually said when you didn't like someone or were gossiping about them. There were many lil' ol' sayings, my point being, that life with Southerners is never, ever dull!!! They certainly keep a conversation full of life and humor.
Now I've met P.L.O.M. people before, you know, the ones that constantly complain about their woes. Whether is be an illness, a wrongful deed done to them, things just not going right for them............we've all met them. In fact, I have a neighbor that is a P.L.O.M. person, in all honesty, he drives me nuts!! I can't talk to him for too long, because before you know it, he's rollin' in his own self-pity, I figure he doesn't need me for an audience, he's his own, "one man pity party." Usually when he corners me, I listen for a wee bit and then tell him I've got somethin' burnin' in the kitchen and quickly depart.
Now I'm a darn positive girl most of the time. I thank GOD everyday when I wake up, just for the sheer fact that I DID wake up! Another day to enjoy time with my grand babies, kids, husband and.................our lil' ol' ranch.
My point is that I'm very proud of my roots, I'm very proud of my grand parents for etching out a nice life for themselves when all odds were against them. I'm proud of the fact that I was able to spend so much time with my grandparents, we were close. I spent my life eating some of the BEST Southern cuisine ever..............ham hocks and pintos with cast iron cornbread (my granny made the BEST!), fried okra, turnip greens cooked in bacon grease for hours on the stovetop, lima beans and ham, black-eyed peas, fried chicken and fried sunfish, watermelon with salt, homemade ice cream, cornpones, drop biscuits with homemade jams, meringue pies of all types, iced tea by the gallons drunk out of quart jars iced down, homemade mac and cheese, pickled goodies.
I miss my grand parents, there are so many things I would love to ask them now that I'm older. One thing is for sure, I'm proud of my "people" and I'm proud to share that Southern gift with my "sister" and "boo"...............Jessi Ann and Jared Thomas (aka J.T.)
