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I remember growing up in Memphis, Tennessee and visiting my grandparents in the summer and Christmas or Thanksgiving holidays.  We would visit my paternal grandparents in the rural part of Jackson, Mississippi and my maternal grandmother in the small town of Thibodaux, Louisiana.  The environments were as different as day and night, but the memories I have are priceless.  My paternal grandparents were deeply rooted in church and my grandfather was a pastor.  My grandmother was a well-known “First Lady” who many loved to hear sing.  Most of our days there were spent in church, or at their house running around on gravel roads.  For lunch, we might eat a bologna sandwich, but dinner was always good.  My grandmother was an excellent cook and baker so it was common to have plenty of delicious soul food and fresh pound cakes or jelly cakes.  We watched wheel of fortune, their favorite game show, every night over dinner and talked about what “holiness” is.  We learned how to treat people and what the Lord expected of us.

My maternal grandmother had meager means but always fed us delicious meals.  She let us watch T.V. and run around outside.  She even let us walk down the street by ourselves to the local high school and run around the track.  My grandmother never learned to drive so we had to get around by walking or wait for a ride.  I remember walking to mass in the stifling Louisiana heat.  Sitting through Mass was a neat experience which was foreign to us since we were Protestants.  My grandmother was a hoot and kept us laughing.  She would let a curse word slip out every now and then and share jokes.

Visiting these different loving environments gave us so much joy and I still laugh when I think of my grandparents who are all now deceased.  I am so thankful for the times we had with each of them and the time they took to teach us how to cook, think, laugh, enjoy life, and entertain ourselves. I think of how they brought my parents up and the lessons they taught them and how these lessons were passed down to us.  I think of the rich heritage our family has and the legacy my grandparents left for us to cherish.  One day, I will have the same opportunity to leave a legacy for my children and hope they have equally fond memories of their parents and grandparents.

~Coletta Jones Patterson