Why I am who I am...

The other day, Cole was spreading dirt with a tractor and box blade. As I watched him, I realized how meticulous he was...got me to thinking. What made him that way? Why was it so important for the dirt to be near perfect? Then I realized...he gets that from me!

I have more idiosyncrasies that a room full of mental patients! Some things just have to be a certain way...no exceptions! My hair must be in place...My clothes must be pressed...The toilet paper must be over, not under, and if I come to your house and it's under...I will fix it! These are traits I can not change, no matter how hard I try to let go of them! I literally get perturbed and testy over them!

Mom and Dad

My mother is the reason I walk so upright..."Shoulders back, Monica! Stand straight and tall!" Thank you, Mother...I do not slump... I do not sing at the table or put my elbows on it either!
Oh and she is also the reason I appreciate classical music, poetry and literature....and lemon icebox pie!!!! She has always had impeccable taste in clothing and was always such a great influence on my outer appearance. Well, maybe except the Easter debacle of 1970 something when we had matching dresses, but I digress! She is also a wonderful person to others, terribly thoughtful...I wish I were more like her. My love of animals, she nurtured that one, too!

My sweet daddy is the reason I must have wrinkle-free clothes, neat hair and hospital bed corners. I get my punctuality from him...Early is on time, on time is late and late...never mind! He loved sweet tea, and taught me how to make it (in a milk jug, hey!) at the tender age of nine! The biggest jerk of my dating career said I made the best sweet tea in the world...that was the only compliment I received from him!lol Daddy also instilled my overwhelming love of music...Every milestone of my life, every memory I have, is associated with a song...even if one wasn't playing in the background!

ER Wildman

My Papa, ER Wildman, is the reason I put my knife blade down in the dishwasher basket. He is also the reason I know about Quarter Horses...I do not use that knowledge, but I am thankful I have it! My love of comedy was his doing! Hours and hours of Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons, All In the Family and The Carol Burnette Show. He also loved to sing a song for every situation...I do that, too!  I miss his cornbread and wish I could make mine like his!  He also loved music very much and LOVED to dance!
He also loved my boy, called him Cole Younger, the outlaw!

Opal and ER Wildman and me!

My Amaw, Opal Wildman. I was only 4 when she passed away from breast cancer...I remember so little of her. She was beautiful though, inside and out. My mother looks like her and I like to think she is an awful lot like her! I remember what her house in Memphis looked like, I also remember sitting in bed with her and trying buttermilk for the first and LAST time. She was an excellent cook from all accounts and I am pretty sure I get my love of cake from her!

Lucille and Donat Grenier

My Grandma, Lucille Grenier. What can I say? I only saw her once a year for 2 weeks, many times at our house. There was always that day she would greet me at the door, after a long day of school,  paper grocery sack in hand saying, "Monica, let's go clean your bedroom!" She instilled organization in me. When I cook, I put everything away... When I pick up a book, I get totally lost in it and can't put it down, just like her! I also love "knick-knacks" and antiques. One of my treasures is a foyer table she gave to us after my daddy died.

Grandpa, Donat Grenier...what a precious man. He was a  French Canadian carpenter. He smoked a pipe and always wore a "chapeau" when he left the house. When he woke up, he knelt by his bed and prayed! Didn't matter if it was from a long night's slumber or his afternoon nap. He instilled my love of Bleu Cheese, Harry Carey and Dodger Disgust! He was kind and very quiet and taught me how to stand on my head! lol

 I had many great-aunts who influenced me as well...My Little Auntie taught me how to face adversity. My Aunt Ruby...well she just loved me and was a beautiful artist. My Aunt Janie taught me to appreciate fine home cooking and hospitality, bless her, she never turned me away! Aunt Leila taught me to celebrate each birthday and always buy a new outfit for the occasion! Big Auntie spoiled me and she and Uncle Jerry always made sure I had a Coke Float every time I visited!

There are many others who influenced my life and how I am today. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home with Christians all around me. I am thankful for the fact they were not all perfect, and never pretended to be something they weren't. I learned cuss words...I learned how to pray...I learned beauty is all around, not only seen, but heard. Who I am is in direct proportion to how I was raised, I am the sum of my experiences and how I have dealt with them. Because of their examples, I think I have dealt with stuff pretty well.

I absolutely hate how time has stolen them from me...I hate my children do not have what I had! I hate that we have all grown away, apart or indifferent. I wish I had appreciated my mother dragging me to their houses then, instead of now. I wish I had written down what was said and had more pictures of their beautiful faces.

 Life is an amusement park...There are the happy rides and the scary rides, the thrills, the food...the crazy people who make you laugh..the Gypsies who don't come around but once a year. In every moment, the good and the bad,always remember, your family is the biggest influence you will ever have. When you do that thing your grandma did, laugh and be thankful...I know I am!

Love to all!
Monica

Summatime!!!

Summer...I love the Summer! I love how life slows a little bit. I love the visions it conjures! But spending the summer in Mississippi is an experience like non other! I have lived in the great state of Mississippi since first grade. I have never lived anywhere else since then. I do not know what it is like to have a summer free of sweltering humidity and mosquitoes! I would not know what to do if I had a good hair day during the summer! I would not know how to behave if my clothes weren't wrenching wet with sweat...stuck to every crack in my body! Folks, this place is HOT!!

But as hot as it is...it still has it's merits. In a Mississippi Summer you will find reunions. Class reunions and family reunions. It is a time to get together, sit around and reminisce! The smell of charcoal wafts through the air. Food is light and fresh...things collected from the garden...tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. There are salads everywhere...congealed salads, potato salads and garden salads! There is always the faint scent of citronella, skin-so-soft or OFF! Sitting outside shelling peas or shucking corn...house full of heat from canning tomatoes and green beans and pickles!!

Children riding their bikes...swimming pools...lemonade stands...I can not imagine it any other way! Baseball...softball...horseshoes and washers! Folding lawn chairs and plastic checked tablecloths! Sweet tea and Lemon Icebox Pie...watermelon and cantaloupe! Fireworks and sparklers...hula hoops and jump ropes...popcicles and homemade ice cream! Fishing poles and trolling motors...crickets and worms!!!

Sitting outside on the swing or chasing Fireflies (or as we call 'em Lightnin' Bugs!)...listening to the crickets and cicadas...the smell of honeysuckle...the sound of sprinklers watering lawns...did I mention sweet tea? Hammocks and picnic tables...coolers full of ice cold drinks...festivals with funnel cakes and corn dogs...flip flops and tan lines...windows down...music blaring!!! 

Many of us migrate even farther south to the Gulf Coast and hang out on the sandy beaches of Alabama and Florida...Gulf Shores and Orange Beach...Destin and Seaside...As if the heat of our backyard isn't enough...The sound of the waves pounding the shore...I will go in debt to go to the beach...peace and tranquility...laughter and sunshine...family and fun...unrivaled sunsets and sunrises...the Gulf breeze...ahhhh!

It's dusty...rain usually eludes us...by mid July we have abandoned the swimming pools because it feels more like bath water...our yards, despite all the watering, become brown...we run inside for air conditioning (the greatest gift from God for a Southerner!) We start to dread the inevitable start of school...in AUGUST, of all things! We start looking forward to football and cooler temps (which do not come until December!)

But a Southern Summer, can not be replicated...the folks who have migrated to NYC get together in Central Park and have a picnic for all the Mississippians (simply because they miss it, too!) It is the most wonderful feeling on earth...it is a gift...and as much as we complain, we wouldn't have it any other way!

So here's to Summertime, where the livin' is easy...Here's to a slower pace and a thankful heart...here's to memories from the past and new memories to be made! I am really excited about this summer and I can not wait to enjoy all it has in store!

Hope yours is FABULOUS!!!

All my love,

Monica