The woman in this photo is my maternal grandmother. Her name is Viola Lanham Smith. And I think she is awesome. Oh, and that man is my maternal grandfather, all 6 foot 4 1/2 inches of him. His name is Manley. They both passed away in 1978, she on May 28, and he, on July 3. Their passing was just shy of my 5th birthday.
This photo was taken at their home, in Chickasha, OK, in 1971. They were sitting on the piano bench. One thing I do remember is that there was always music in this home. I don't know what songs they were singing, but I do remember my mom and her siblings being around this piano and singing. My mom is a ~fabulous~ piano player.
This is a picture of a picture, taken with my phone, so it's not the greatest quality. This is Viola, with one of her sisters (Bessie, I think), when my mother was very young. We think that's my Mom in front of her at the very bottom of the picture. So, this picture had to be taken in the late 1940's, early 1950's.
I don't have a lot of memories of Grandma Viola, but I wish I did. The one memory I do have, is precious to me. I don't remember the circumstances surrounding the evening, but I believe my parents had gone out for the evening, and I stayed at home with Viola. I got to sleep in the bed with her. I never got to sleep in the bed with my Momma, (apparently I was like sleeping with a tornado) so this was a treat, as a youngster, to get to sleep with Grandma! My sweet Grandma Viola was not a small woman, she was short in stature (around 5 foot tall), and maybe had a few extra pounds on her. I remember the crisp, clean, white sheets. Per my mother, Viola sent the sheets to the laundry, that's how you did it back in those days. Momma still, to this day, presses her pillow cases. Grandma sat down on the other side of the bed from me, and proceeded to lay down on her side, with her back to me. Being a young, and little person at the time, I started to "roll" toward her, landing with my face right in the middle of her back. That's pretty much all I remember, but I do cherish, sleeping with her once, and remembering it.
My Momma and Aunt have told me stories of her.....things she used to say and do. I love hearing them talk about when they grew up, trips they would take to visit nearby family, her cooking, and her mannerisms.
Check out this group of wild Indians! I'm kidding of course! These are Viola's children today. We have a bit of a gap from the first two to the last two. I will explain.
Mildred (far right) was born first, she is the oldest. (In her 80's and still sportin' all of her turquoise, love it!)
Insert a 7 year gap, then along came Jack (the only male here, hehe).
Insert a 16 year gap, then along came Sandra (next to Mildred), aka Nootsy, as she was called as a child, and to this day. Nootsy and I are close and have a plethora of nicknames for each other......It's just how our family operates, :-).
Insert 15 month gap, then along came my Momma, Kathryn (far left), aka Bitty, as she was called as a child.
No, she's not still called Bitty (only to close family), and I'm KNOW if she's reading this she's cringing at this moment. Sorry Mom :-).
Oddly enough, and not many families can say this, Mildred and Viola were pregnant at the same time. Mildred with her son, Roy Jr.,(the man in the picture on the wall above my Mom), and Viola with my Momma. I just think that's a hoot and doesn't happen all the time.
Viola was a beautiful Chickasaw woman with very long hair. I remember seeing it un-braided and down, only once while she was combing it. She always parted it in the middle, braided it, and pinned her braids across the top of her head. This is a memory I love too. I don't ever remember her wearing pants or slacks, always some sort of dress. One thing I learned lately is that my Viola loved costume jewelry. I am now convinced that is where I get my love of jewelry. Momma has several of her brooches that she used to wear. They are big and gorgeous, just how I like my jewelry, ha! Here are a few of her pieces of jewelry. Don't you love them?? I do.
I wish I could go on and on all day about my favorite memories of her.....but I can't. So, I will cherish her, as she was beautiful in flesh and in her heart; and I got to at least spend almost 5 of my years in her presence. Needless to say, I'm somewhat obsessed with her (slightly), so I drew this and proceeded to have it permanently attached to my leg. Here is my tattoo of her name.
I hope you enjoyed my rambling on and on about my family, but ya know, they're family. You've only got ONE family, they are irreplaceable.
Until next time, peace out!
Angie
