Blame, in this instance, is spelled C-R-E-D-I-T. It would take all day and more words than I know to give her all of that she’s due. But if I start the story, maybe others in the family chain will embellish it for me.
Oe Minney Miller lived in rural WV on what we now might call a ‘homestead’ farm. A simple life, to be sure, but this grand lady was anything but simple. She and her family and neighbors worked so hard and loved and lived so well with little of this world’s goods, but plenty of faith and industry to make it through.
Not surprisingly. Grandma Oe was a very utilitarian sort. She lived in an era and circumstance where waste was more than impractical, it was immoral. I no longer save any fabric less than 2” wide (except for the -1” strips that I tuck in a drawer for gift tying). GM Oe used every quarter inch of everything - feedsacks, cast-offs and not-so-worn sections of outgrown clothing. Even so, her quilts are wonderfully artistic. Much of her quilting was done in pre-depression days, but with 14 children growing up on a self-supporting farm one had to be frugal and inventive…certainly not wasteful.
Like Nines, I never met a quilt I didn’t find some good in to appreciate. Even if it’s ugly, it will supply warmth and comfort. (It pays to look at people that way, too.) That must have been a part of Oe’s philosophy as well. If it can’t be as pretty as you’d like, it can at least be useful.
Before you ask - yes, Oe was her real name. Oe Minney. She named her girls Minnie, Jessie (my mother), Carrie and Luanne (nicknamed Annie). Some of the boy’s names were even more inventive: Marvin Gale, Orbert and Obert (twins), Hurley Bon, Corley and Arlyn Bly. I’m wondering if Grandpa (Grover Cleveland Miller) named Uncle David?
GM Oe made 52 biscuits every morning. Can you imagine? Not only were they needed for a hearty farm-work breakfast, they also went in school lunches. In season, fried green tomatoes were added on the biscuit sandwiches. And if you haven’t had a fried green tomato on biscuit sandwich, you missed something.
The next time my writing takes this trail I’ll put down some of my dear memories of the “Miller homestead.” And did you notice that the backdrop in the turn of the century photo of Grandma is a quilt or comforter of some kind?
4 comments:
Now this makes 3 of us that are remembering our grandmother's today! Yourself, Finn and me. LOL!
Grandma Oe sounds like a very special soul. Oh my...how much we could learn from folk like that. Thank you for sharing. :o)
Can't wait to hear more about the Miller homestead. I read an article once, about how many pictures of that time period had a quilt hanging behind those being photographed.
Me too.(wrote about my G'ma) I have been writing the stories of my life and what I know of my family. Hope you are able to save your stories to put into a book for your family members. I printed ones for my kids and made CD's for my grandkids. I am a member of a Life Story class in Michigan.
Grandma Oe was a wonderful, loving person who instilled great values in her children who passed them on to us (the grandchildren). Thanks Peni. I will try to include some memories of my own a little later. We are having creamed tomatoes and biscuits for dinner, ala Grandma Oe.
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