Helen was a working woman. A woman of means to get things done.

Her hair sat comfortably in a messy braid at the NAPE of her neck, as it did every single day.

She was a woman who wore shoes that let her get things done.

Her legs were incredibly shapely, thanks to the long days she spent standing and working.

HER ARMS STRONG with muscles stronger than young men.

Helen was a woman of simple means with a spirited personality.

Helen HAULED rain water she collected to feed the small garden through the back yard.

She often used run off from her sink or rain to water the garden. Because she was RESOURCEFUL.

The garden provided something nearly each day of the year for the family.

Some days it was fresh, other days it was canned. Each day delicious and NOURISHING.

Helen admittedly let the back yard “GO TO THE DOGS” as the neighbors would say.

She thought to herself, “This is something I know.”

TO OUTSIDERS her life seemed hard, hard.

Helen considered her life full and meaningful.

She was WELL-LOVED.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Meet Cora, the matriarch of a farming family in the late 1800s. Husband-less, due to her husband’s unfortunate choice to drink liquor and hunt – at the same time – Cora became the rock of her family. Left to care for three children, one of whom had a child and her sister-in-law, Louisa. Louisa, also husband-less, proper and intelligent, was a local teacher for kids age 5 through age 13.

Seeing as how Louisa wasn’t married, she was the responsibility of her brother, a poor shot when he drank, so the responsibility fell to Cora. Cora didn’t mind having Louisa around as she was helpful, taught the children how to read and write and that was more than she knew how to do to any great degree. Cora could barely read and write at a 3rd grade level, but she was a smart woman who navigated farming just fine when her husband, a poor shot when he drank, went dying on her.

Cora’s children, a daughter, Mabel, with a daughter, Alma and Cora’s two sons, Hubert and Willard all at some point in their lives or all their lives worked on the family farm. Small in comparison to the farms around their land, they only had 5 acres but the land was profitable enough to support the family with a modest income.

Mabel, whose husband was in the Army, had been sent to fight a “little Spanish war” and she’d been left to raise Alma on her own. Mabel and Alma lived in a small shack on the land and they spent much of their time at Cora’s house.

Hubert and Willard were done with school thank goodness and could help plant and harvest so Cora wasn’t forced to hire wanderers off the train that ran right through their property. Hubert, “the slow one,” as people used to say, was a happy and willing fellow. Willard, the middle of the three, was a hard worker but easily distracted.

When Willard wasn’t helping on the farm, which was all or part of 7 days a week, he could be found calling on a local girl he was sweet on named Miriam. Miriam was also sweet on Willard but they would wait years before they held hands or kissed, married and went on to have a house full of children.

Mabel’s husband returned from the war after two years and he and Mabel had fallen ill with yellow fever. Both died when Alma was just six. Cora raised Alma with the help of  Louisa. During Alma’s 16th year when she was independent Louisa would move a day’s trip away to teach at a school. Cora missed Louisa’s presence more than she cared to admit as Louisa had become a confidant and friend.

Hubert never married but his niece Alma, having seen the example of how Cora cared for family members, would carry on the tradition. She would keep Uncle Hubert in her home, giving him a blessed quality life for over 40 years; a place to belong.

Over the years in the family home Alma raised 6 children. Four born out of her body but all she called her own. Three of her brood spent their lives on the farm raising babies and taking care of Alma. Alma had appropriately passed the torch of matriarch to another willing and able woman in the long line of generationally strong women.

Since Cora’s husband, a poor shot when he drank, had died, the women in the family took charge and would be in charge for generations to come.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Emily and Victoria were the only girls in their family of 5 children. They are standing in front of the house their maternal Granddaddy, Floyd,  built with his hands and the hands of  his brothers and their sons. Floyd chose the wood himself, oversaw each and every building detail, and had an entire hand on every plank of wood.

The girls loved the house and everything around the house. The way the brick walkway was like a maze that lead to the back and the long winding road that welcomed visitors. They liked to play under the house in the back where they could fit when they were little. They loved to pull each other in a wagon Granddaddy made for them on the porch. They loved the sounds the floors made when people walked.

The girls spent hours running in and out of the two front doors. The door to the left entered into the parlor. The entrance to the parlor was built specifically so men, who used the parlor frequently, could sneak in and out to smoke cigars on the porch. The door facing the steps was the official front door and there were exactly 64 steps between the official front door and the back door, unless it was 43. It all depended on if the girls were running, skipping or walking little quiet baby steps so they could sneak up on their Mama.

The house had a 2nd story and the steps started to the right as you entered the official front door. The girls used to count the steps; the wide, loud steps. Trying to match the rhyme they counted the steps. There were 2 sets of 20 with a landing. The landing always served as a resting stop while the girls caught their breath through their giggles, then they would go again..

One, two,

Buckle my shoe;

Three, four,

Knock at the door;

Five, six,

Pick up sticks;

Seven, eight,

Lay them straight:

Nine, ten,

A big fat hen;

Eleven, twelve,

Dig and delve;

Thirteen, fourteen,

Maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen,

Maids in the kitchen;

Seventeen, eighteen,

Maids a-waiting

Nineteen, twenty,

My plate’s empty.

They would always add their own little rhyme like Granddaddy taught them when they hit the landing or the top…

Twenty-one, twenty-two,

I love you!

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes