Hey Everybody!
One of my favorite people to hear my relatives reminisce about is one of my paternal great-grandmothers, Granny Thomas. To my knowledge she was a truly remarkable person.
To begin, she was born the same year the Titanic sank... 1912.. which means that she was about seven-years-old during the women's sufferage movement in the United States, and born into a family full of sisters to boot! In spite of being one daughter of many, Granny Thomas was apparently a bit of a stand-out. She had abilities that are seemingly unheard of these days.
For example, she could usually tell with great accuracy, without any prior medical knowledge, what gender of child that first-time mothers would give birth to. When my aunt was pregnant with her first child (my cousin, Brandy), Granny Thomas accurately predicted that Brandy would be a girl. And when my mother was pregnant with me, Granny Thomas told her that she couldn't determine if I'd be a boy or a girl because I wasn't her first pregnancy. (Mom and Dad had two miscarriages before I came along. I'm not sure if they told her that beforehand. I don't believe they did.)
She was also what many people call a "water witch". She could walk around a property and tell you exactly where you could successfully dig a well and about how deep you needed to dig before you hit water.
She was one of the most energetic people I've ever known. When everyone around was winding down, she'd still be revving up. Granny Thomas could drive a car well into her 90s, and frequently did so, for hundreds of miles across state lines. She also loved to fish and had two jon boats of her very own, both of which ended up with my dad.
Fun little story - Granny Thomas phoned dad up one day and told him she wanted him to hook up her boat to his truck and take her out on the water. So, being a devoted grandson, he did. He even thought to grab some fishing poles and bait because he knew about her proclivity for fishing. When they got close, she started telling dad where she wanted him to launch the boat, and when they were both on the water she told him which direction she wanted him to go. Dad said he paddled around in the water for hours, not fishing, just boating. When he got her where she wanted to be, she asked him to stop, and they both waited... she waited for something she never explained... and Dad waited for her instructions. After a short time of just floating around, Granny Thomas turned to Dad and told him she was ready to go back to the truck. So, they went back to the truck and he drove her home. Neither one of them pulled out a single fishing pole during that whole trip. Dad thought it was curious, but he never questioned it. I think, to Dad, Granny Thomas was a bit magical. To this day he speaks of her with awe in his voice and says things like, "Granny Thomas knew things." He never is able to specify what the things she knew were though, and I feel I might have missed out on asking her about moments like that, even though she was with us until I was in my mid to late 20s.
And Dad isn't the only one who gets a little pensive when the subject of Granny Thomas comes up. Many of my aunts get that way as well, as does my Mom. They all have that same awe in their voices when they discuss her as he does. She was marvellous to have amazed her grandchildren so many times over! To me, she was just Granny Thomas. She was a woman of medium height, wiry and strong, but playful, with the straightest posture, the whitest hair, and the bluest eyes in the world. I rarely to never saw her in eyeglasses. Never saw her use a cane. I don't recall if she ever had hearing aids, but she was as spry as they come. She'd drive all the way down from Kansas to make her rounds and visit all of us. I remember her coming over to the house in her short-sleeved, polyester pantsuit and having a glass of sweet tea under the carport with us. I don't recall her ever saying much, but I do remember her smiling... a lot. She had a terrific smile. Her eyes twinkled when she smiled.
I feel as though I'm making her sound very secretive, but I do not think she was. She'd have told us candidly what she knew about any subject provided we asked about it... the trouble was, we never asked! (At least I know that I hardly ever did.) Either because we all just let it slip our minds while we were basking in her presence, or because we never knew what we needed to ask because we didn't know what it was that we didn't know... so we couldn't ask about it... if that makes sense.
There is one memory that I know proof of exists somewhere. That memory is the time Granny Thomas lent (my late grandpa, her son-in-law) Papaw Truman money. I do not know how much money was lent to him, or when it was lent, and I do not recall the purpose for it needing to be lent. But, I do know, that it was Granny Thomas - not Papaw Thomas - that lent it. I know this because Papaw Truman took the time to write her a letter of thanks when he managed to pay her back in full. That letter in his penmanship stands as evidence of this memory, but if you were to ask me who currently has ownership of that letter, I couldn't tell you. I do believe Granny Thomas carried it around in her pocketbook for a time though.
I wish more stories of Granny were coming to mind - but that is all I'm recalling for now - that, and I'm in serious need of a shower. So, until I post again... be thinkin' of ya!
~K
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