For my first official post, I want to share what I know about Southern Sisters. I chose that name because you don't have to be related by blood to be a sister. These are the women in your life that hold you up when you cannot stand alone, the women who make you laugh so hard you cry, the women who know your secrets and will take them to the grave. I don't have a birth sister but I am blessed to have the most amazing women in my life that I call sisters.
I do however, have a long line of Southern family. My grandmother was born in Georgia and never lived anywhere but here. She worked in cotton fields when she was a little girl, and married at 16. She raised her children and never worked outside the home. She could shoot a gun, scale and filet a fish, skin a rabbit, grow the most beautiful flowers you have ever seen and make a fried apple pie that made your mouth water. She taught me to make homemade potholders and biscuits and to savor a fig just picked from the tree. She told me stories about my ancestors and instilled in me the importance of remembering.
My aunt who will turn 90 years old next month was a member of a bluegrass band and they played on the radio in Atlanta. She worked at Bell Bomber Plant as a riveter during World War II. She took care of her children while my uncle was in Europe fighting the war. My mother went to work when my grandfather passed away to help my grandmother with bills. She has been a giver and a caretaker all her life. They all took care of their homes and raised their children to know right from wrong, to say "sir" and "mam". They grew gardens full of vegetables, not because it was "hip" but it was how they fed their family. My mother worked all day, cooked a meal at night and then would "put up" vegetables. In the winter we always had her fresh vegetables. Don't get me wrong, the men in our life are strong too. My dad, my brother, my uncles...but this is about Southern Sisters.
I am proud to be from the South. Never wished I was from any other place. We have beaches, mountains, plains and farmland. Cities, towns and whistle stops. It is in my blood and I pray it will continue on through other generations and someday a granddaughter or great grand daughter will look back and say I am proud to be southern and to know the ladies who gave me Southern Roots.
In the coming months, you will see that my Southern Roots will also refer to my garden...
