Mama Ann, the Most Inspiring Parent I know

When I was a little girl growing up in rural Alabama, I took for granted the beauty of living in the county surrounded by loyal friends and caring relatives.  To many, life in the Valley as is was called was just plain boring.  Things were very routine and simple but the one person who brought it all together was the woman that I knew as Mama.  Miss Ann, as she was called by many, was the most respected and kind woman that most people knew.  She was my paternal grandmother.   I had lived with her since my fist few days of life.  She had decided early on that she would raise me as her own child.  My father, her son, had already married and joined the military when he was eighteen and left my mother with an infant child.  My grandmother would have no part in quarreling over who would care for this child.  She immediately took me home from the hospital and told my very young mother that she would care for me for as long as needed.  My mother moved to New York to make a better life for herself and my life with Mama moved forward.


Eventually she would legally adopt me and walk with me on this beautiful journey of life.  This woman was educated with just a sixth grade education and married to my grandfather who also had just a sixth grade education, taught me the true essence of life and the meaning of loving, living, and being a caring person.  It is something in her calm demeanor that allowed her to handle any and every situation with dignity and respect. The most fascinating thing about her was her friends that her frequently had over to our home.  Ironically, a woman with little formal education had the most educated and respected friends in the community.

She was always trying to make sure that I had the best that she could give me.  She was a maid and was working for the high school coach of the then segregated white school.  His wife was the kindergarden teacher and had suggested that Mama enroll me in the kindergarden class.  There was initial excitement and then not a mention of it anymore.  I later learned that although many schools had desegregated, things were not go cut and dry in some town.  She was disappointed but did what she could to get me started out on the right foot.  She called on her friends in the community who just happened to be teachers and they  took me under their wing and started to teach me not only how to read and write but how to be a lady and how to treat other people.

By 1968 things were changing in America and I did not understand all that was happening around me.  Mama told me that she and Daddy were going to vote.  I recall the first time that they voted as plainly as if it happened yesterday, Mama got dressed up as if she was going to church and daddy took a bath.  I knew that something big was going to happen if Daddy took a bath.  I asked what was going on and she told me that she was going to vote for the first time and she wanted to look presentable for this occasion.  Daddy took it all in stride except for the bath.  She and Daddy voted every year after that and told me that it was important to vote.

For a woman who had such informal education, she had a flair for all things considered  classy.  The way she dressed and the way she dressed me was sophisticated and very neat.  You would not know that Daddy was a textile worker and Mama a maid.  She always said that it's now where you come from but where you are going.

As we enter the techno era, Mama would not have understood any of this social media stuff, but she would still have asked me to explain it to her and she would probably  just nod her head as if she understood and just be proud of me for trying.  She was and still is the most wonderful person that I ever met and although she and Daddy died in 2004 within 3 months of each other.  The true love and kindness of  her has influenced my life and I am a much better person for having her in my life.  She was my angel and I know that she is with me all the time.