The earliest memories I have are of my soft spoken, petite great grandmother we lovingly called Gran Gran who lived to see 101 years of age! She moved from rural Florida to Bryn Mawr, Pa. during the Great Migration…seeking better opportunities. She would do housework from the early morning hanging clothes on the line, working in her garden, picking apples for her pies, making her biscuits from scratch, serving her great grands wheat toast and eggs for breakfast; to laying out an immaculate table setting you did not even want to touch, let alone eat with the silverware because it was like a work of art – beautifully crafted! Always the perfect host, she served her family and friends with love!
Her serving was not lost on me…she did all of this in one of her many aprons! I watched her in such awe and now know she watches me! In her hey-day, she owned an employment agency, certainly an early entrepreneur and trailblazer, at that time – a rarity. At night she protected her crown of hair wrapping her coils and curls in pieces of a brown paper bag, all while still in her apron!