Grandma Kate
While I am named after my grandmother, it was not just her name that she gave me.
My grandparents lived with us so I was blessed to have them with me all of my formative years. I went to the farmer’s market with my grandmother when she bought produce for our family grocery store and got to watch her cook dinner every night for the family
(My godmother, Aunt Bea, Grandfather,
Grandmother, me, and my mother)
My grandmother smoked and had one beer that she nursed at the end of the day. She was a force and called the shots in our family.
Every Sunday she made lunch for everyone in the family (cousins, aunts and uncles) as well as anyone else who dropped in. She prepared everything, including at least 2 pies.
After the war, my grandmother sent my uncle down to Ellington AFB with instructions to invite to dinner any Asian soldiers that had nowhere to go for dinner. If there were others without a place to go, he could invite them as well.
(my Aunt Jerry and me)
One of my aunts was "adopted" by my grandmother when the family was in California during the war. She was a grown woman at the time but had no family so my grandmother became her family. Aunt Jerry wasn't even Chinese, but it never occurred to any of us that she was anything but our aunt. My grandmother was “mama” to her and it was Aunt Jerry who took part in a family tradition of gently smashing my face with cake when I was a year old.
When another "uncle" told my grandmother that he was interested in a young woman but she lived in another state, my grandmother got on a train with him and they went to the town where the young lady lived. My "uncle" and this young lady ended up marrying and raising a beautiful family.
When she and my grandfather were building a store in Mississippi, she had him add extra bedrooms. Her thought was that if there were Chinese traveling through the area, they would have a place to stay. There were no hotels for them to stay at during that period.
In 1924, my mother and aunt were barred from an all white school they had previously attended. Led by my grandmother, this led to the “first US Supreme Court case to challenge the constitutionality of racial segregation in Southern public schools.”*
(Grandma and me in the infamous Texas bluebonnet field)
Grandma Kate’s influence/imprint on me…
~Everyone is welcome! The family dinners I have now are open to everyone…all I need is to know how many. If you are lacking family to share a meal with or a place to stay, my place is open.
~ I tend to insert myself in the problems of others if I see a way to help.
~I cannot abide injustice. I will speak up.
I cherish the time I spent with my grandmother. She was fierce, funny, a fighter, and a darn good cook!
This is an entry in March 2025 AR Challenge: Sharing The Gift Of Who You Are hosted by Patricia Feager and Lew Corcoran,
(Several years ago, Adrienne Berard heard about my grandmother’s story and lawsuit when doing research for her own family’s history. She began researching our family and the result was the book Water Tossing Boulders.)
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