Viva's Girls

Favorite Granddaughter (s)

There were always a bunch of boys around.  Bea had 3 right off, Pea had one, and Jay had 3.  Where were the girls?  After all, Monk had fathered an absolute bevy of beauties in Pea, Bea and Jay!

Then it happened.  Dadaddy got his granddaughter.  The beautiful Ell.  How do we know Ell was beautiful?  Because Dadaddy told her as often as she would listen, " You are my favorite granddaughter!"  This went on for years, Ell being the queen bee in her household and in the world of Dadaddy and Momommy.  Yes, the sweet Ell just had to scream those sweet words when one of the three monsters (alias brothers) was ganging up on her, "Dad, X is being mean to me!"  Amazing how fast that man could move.  The brothers say Ell was spoiled?  What do they know? ;->

I digress.  Ell was the beautiful granddaughter amongst all the rowdy grandsons.  Then, what happened?  Lo and behold, here came Dee.  What?  Another granddaughter?  Well, since Ell was Dadaddy's Favorite Grandaughter (albeit the only one), how could this work? 

He kept calling her his favorite granddaughter.  What did that little wisp of a baby know?  For some reason, Momommy kept telling him he couldn't say it.  Darn if I know why.  Anyway, next thing I hear, Ell is his favorite Eldest (his word) granddaughter.  And, that is what she stayed through that other little granddaughter coming on the scene, Zee.  I am sure it was purely an accident that Ell dropped the little cute Zee off the couch onto the floor one day in Arkansas...... 

So each of Monk and Viva's beautiful daughters had boys we won't even focus on (ho-hum), and each had a gorgeous baby girl.  Dadaddy's Favorite Eldest Granddaughter, Dadaddy's Favorite Middle Granddaughter, and Dadaddy's Favorite Baby Granddaughter.  (I still think Ell was his favorite.;->)

Don’t Eat the Gas Potato

When Viva passed away, the family gathered at her home in Arkansas to have a funeral and bid her a fond farewell.  The sisters were on the advance team to get the house ready and set up the church and cemetery arrangement.

When Ell, Dee and I arrived, the sleeping arrangements were very carefully set up to utilize the recently laundered sheets without having to return to the Laundromat.  The sisters slept in the master bedroom and the cousins were in the guest room, across the hall.

  The day before the service Bea decided to make her famous beans.  As we all learned, the key to her beans is the Gas Potato.  Apparently, the whole potato is cooked with the beans to soak up all the gas so that the beans can be eaten with no ill effects.  Through out the day we were warned not to eat the Gas Potato.  Going into the kitchen to get a glass of water?  Do not eat the Gas Potato.  Going to make some lunch?  Do not eat the Gas Potato!  You get the picture.

Apparently, we had caused quite a bit of consternation on the small community in Arkansas.  First, we had Viva cremated.  For shame!  Second, we delayed the service to the summer, waiting for the cemetery ground to thaw so that her urn could be buried next to her husband.  Tsk tsk!  Because of these mistakes, we did not have any visitors until the day before the service.  That was when folks started stopping by.  Some came to share fond memories of Viva, and some to find out what the family was going to do with the land.  Some wanted to run cattle on it, others wanted to start up a hog farm.

Now, remember, the sisters and cousins had spent many vacations in this small community.  Although we hadn’t been there in a few years, we knew the players pretty well.  So imagine our surprise when JT’s family showed up.  The cousins had grown up knowing JT.  I was a bit young to get in too much trouble with him, but Dee and Ell had seen his antics.  Well, his parents sat in our parlor telling us that JT had gotten religion.  He had been to a revival and seen Jesus.  They were so pleased.  He would be the perfect one to take over the land and turn into something wonderful.

Later that night, we were all settling in for the night, the sisters in their room, the cousins in the other.  We were all chatting, from our beds, about the events of the day.  We just could not get over how JT could have seen Jesus.  Then it came to my brain and out my mouth before I could stop it:

“JT ate the gas potato and saw Jesus.”

I know this wasn’t very charitable, but it sure cracked us all up.

For those keeping score, the land was divided up among the sisters, the front third sold for timber, and the back two thirds donated to the Nature Conservancy to preserve delicate orchid species along the riverfront and to work towards improving the river water quality.

Back to the Beginning

 

Where to start?  At the very beginning.  Here is Viva, her man (Monk), and her girls (Bea, Pea, and Jay).  Corpus Christi was their home.  Monk worked in the oil fields and Viva worked in the sewing department of the Lichtenstein Department Store. 

The Sisters all appear to be well behaved young ladies.  Don't let appearances fool you.  Rumor has it, they would get so giggly at the dinner table that they were told sit under the table until they could display proper table manners.  Now imagine these Sisters under the table, trying to stop giggling and maintain composure.  Yeah right.  With only knees to see, I am sure the stifled giggles went on into the night.

There are stories of a spoonful of mashed potatoes being flicked across the table, onto a wall.  But I will have to look to my older cousins to fill in the details on that one.

All I know is that these Sisters still can't hold their giggles.  Especially when trying to sleep three across in a hotel King sized bed.  This daughter had to shush them up if any sleep was to be had.

Saving the Stories

I come from a wonderful family.  On my Mother's side, it started with The Source, my Grandparents, Mamommy and Dadaddy.  They raised three girls in the South (The Sisters), we'll call them Bea, Pea and Jay, who each had families in different parts of the country.  These three girls each had a girl (The Cousins) and some boys.  We are those girls.   We are Ell, Dee, and Zee.

Following the grand oral tradition, we each heard the same stories, but from very different points of view.  When the Cousins got together, we found out more about our mothers, and ourselves, just by listening to those other viewpoints.  I can still feel the hot humidity clinging to my cheek as I lay on the cot, on the screened in front porch, while The Cousins drank DDP (Ell's favorite) and talked our secret Cousin girl talk.

The Cousins have their own families, now.  But when we're together, we can feel the bond.  It doesn't matter that we hail from the Southeast, the Midwest, and the West, respectively.  We share a connection to the The Source.  We ate the same peaches, walked the same chicken houses, swam and bathed in the same river, and sang off-key Hymns in the same Church when we said Goodbye to our beloved Mamommy.

So much of our youth has slipped by that we want to tell those stories here, so they don't get lost in time.

I have asked Ell and Dee to join me here, to tell our stories.  I hope they do.