Interview with Grandma J.

When Hannah and Abby were just babies, I would spend a couple of hours every Saturday talking to my Grandma. On one of those days, I grabbed my pen and jotted down the things she said and her memories of growing up. Since those memories came in a very "free form" style, I have tried to organize her thoughts into the paragraphs below. Grandma went to be with the Lord a few years ago, but her memory is still fresh in my mind. I'm so glad I wrote down these things before her dementia set in!

My maternal Grandma, Bonnie, was born at home in October, 1918, the seventh of thirteen children. Her great-grandfather, Jesse Yateman, was born in England in 1782. He came to North Carolina and married a Cherokee/Native American woman. It was Bonnie's grandfather, David H. who moved the family to Monroe County, Kentucky in 1875, the area where many of the family still live.

Alvin, Grandma's father

Grandma remembered her father as a very loving man who had a good sense of humor. She recalled him riding the children on his knee and his affectionate ways with them. He was also a good carpenter and made furnishings for their home, as well as adding on to the home itself. He was a farmer who grew all the vegetables for the family including sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and wheat. He also raised tobacco.

The above picture is the only known photo of my great-grandmother.

Grandma's mother, Alta, died of tuberculosis at the age of 44. Grandma was sixteen at the time. Her memories of her mother centered around her home duties, which were plentiful with such a large family. Alta raised turkeys and geese. She used the money she received from selling eggs for sugar, coffee and laundry soap. She sewed all of the family's clothes and Grandma had a lot of memories of seeing her mother sewing on the treadle machine. They used feed sack material for their underwear which went to the knees with elastic. There was an iron kettle in the yard to heat water for washing and they used two irons for ironing- one heating up on the stove while the other was in use.

Alta dried a lot of apples in the sun to make the fried pies they ate in the winter. They also ate pork, white beans, corn bread and potatoes.

Grandma's memories of her grandmother were that she made sweet potatoes, fried apple pies and made molasses candy. She wore long dresses ("to her ankles") and an apron around her waist. Grandma and her family visited with her grandparents almost every day.

Bonnie J.

Because they did not have a full time minister, the traveling minister would come once a month for a church service. They did have Sunday School every week, however.

It was after a church service at the "Beautiful Home" church when Bonnie met Carson, the man who would become my Grandpa. After a party at a neighbor's house, Grandpa walked her home. They dated on and off for three years and the "dates" consisted of times at Bonnie's home or when Carson would walk her home from church. Grandpa had a yellow roadster with a rumble seat in the back where Grandma's twin brothers would ride, with Grandma in the front seat.

Grandma was 19 and Grandpa was 21 when they married in 1938. They married at the pastor's home with only Grandma's brother Hardie and the pastor's wife and daughter as witnesses.

Grandma wore a navy blue skirt and sweater and Grandpa wore a navy blue suit.

Carson J.

Parenthood quickly followed. Carson and Bonnie had four children- a son, Cecil, twins Cleo and Cleola (Cleo died at seven months gestation due to a fall on the ice when Grandma was fetching water in the Spring), and Clarice. Grandma said that she wanted to name my mother Carolyn, but Grandpa couldn't pronounce the name, so Clarice it was.

Bonnie with Cleola and Clarice

Grandpa worked as a farmer, first as a farm hand, then for himself raising corn and tobacco. One of my funny memories of Grandma was when she assured me that tobacco wasn't harmful- it was the nicotine they added to it that made it bad for you!

Above picture of Grandma (center, with the dark belt) and her siblings.

Grandma and Grandpa lived for a time in Indiana and Iowa, but returned to Kentucky where they lived the rest of their lives. They were divorced for several years when my mother was in her teens and twenties, but then they remarried.

Bonnie and Carson at home in Kentucky

Grandma spent a lot of her time in retirement sewing, cooking (everything she cooked had *at least* one spoonful of lard in it to "season" it) and gardening. She loved attending church and reading her Bible. She was very concerned for the spiritual condition of her grandchildren and I know she prayed for them often.

After my mother died, Grandma sewed several things for me so I would be properly outfitted for Bible College. When Brian proposed to me, I was wearing a skirt my Grandma had made (without a pattern, from a description given over the phone). Later, she helped sew my bridesmaids dresses. She showed me how to make buttonholes by hand, since she could never figure out how to use the sewing machine to do it!

My Grandma was a special, unique person. She was loving, generous and hard working. As she grew up poor and uneducated (she dropped out of school in the third grade to help her ailing mother), she was always insecure and did not trust her own opinion. She depended on her children and grandchildren to help her make decisions. She loved her family with her whole heart.

Grandma had an incredible memory for all the details of her family history and the family histories of all her neighbors. She had a soft southern accent and I still chuckle at her use of the words "checkardy" (checked), "stripedy" (striped) and "flowerdy" (floral). She had the most beautiful light blue eyes and soft, clear skin. She hated to have her picture taken and would grab your cheeks and squeeze the daylights out of them when she greeted you.

I'll close with the advice Grandma often gave to me while I was a teenager (and this is a quote from the interview that day): Don't jump into marriage. God has a special one for you and God will bring you together. Being faithful to one another is what makes a family. Also, don't jump into things without praying about it first.

Love and miss you, Grandma J!