Learning from Grandma’s Grandma!

We all know about our Grandma.  The grandchildren love to go to her house, and her own children love to eat there.  When she is gone Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t so great.  No one cooks like Grandma.  She is the toughest, but sweetest lady ever to grace this earth.

But today’s Rural Viewpoints is about Grandma’s Grandma.  As one travels East on I-40, just past the Donelson, Tennessee exit, there is a huge sign with the words on it: “Grandma’s Grandma”.  To ponder thoughts about Grandma’s Grandma, we must go back three generations.  This will enable us to learn from Grandma.  Grandma’s Grandma had numerous sayings and today’s culture could learn from them.
    Grandma’s Grandma repeated every time she cooked a meal: “It’s on the table.”  And she didn’t hesitate to look at Jake and say, “Jake, pull your cap off,” and if he didn’t, she would pull it off for him.  Now Grandma’s Grandma didn’t know anything about this modern habit of going into the parlor and asking the kids, “What do you want for supper?” she cooked what she had, and if the children didn’t hurry to the table, there wouldn’t be much left.  Oh, yes, and when she called them to the table she never failed to call on one of the family members to offer thanks for the food.
    Grandma’s Grandma had a proven way of correcting bad behavior: “Children, if you don’t stop, your hide ain’t gonna hold shucks.”  The teachers didn’t have much trouble with Grandma’s Grandma’s kids.  They knew to get right or suffer the consequences.  The consequences came in the form of a hickory switch.  One dose was usually enough.  Her children weren’t called teenagers, and they didn’t fall on to the floor and kick and scream to get what they wanted.  It didn’t take Grandma’s Grandma long to cast out the demons in a child on the verge of going bad.
    Grandma’s Grandma had a favorite saying for neighbors whose lives were out of control in one way or another: “The chickens will come home to roost.”  Then she would say, “The Good Book says that one reaps what he sows.”  Then she would add: “One may eat high on the hog today, and be in the pigpen tomorrow.”
    Grandma’s Grandma had a saying for her boys: “Boys, you marry a girl who dresses skimpy and wears a lot of war paint and some man will steal her from you.”  Then she would say, “Now boys, you don’t have to marry a girl who dresses like a pilgrim, but you had better not tie the knot with one who loves to show off her body.”
    One old time saying, which Grandma’s Grandma knew well, and used often was this: “You can catch more flies with honey than you can vinegar.”  There are those who don’t know this today.  They want everybody they don’t like and everybody who messes-up in life to have the vinegar treatment.  The truth is, the honey (love) treatment works.  It paves the way for success.  It can turn a marriage around that is on the rocks.  It can give new life to the downtrodden.  It can win back those with whom one may be at odds.  
    Grandma’s Grandma was a hardworking lady, with wisdom and love governing her daily life.  She has left behind a legacy that would change our lives and preserve our country, that is, if we would only study her life and incorporate her great attributes into our daily living.  Grandma’s Grandma would say in times like these, “We all need to pray,” and so we do.