Pearl

For some reason I visited the bloggers sites yesterday after reading a post. I discovered a series of photos from a photographer. They had been discarded and rediscovered. I looked through and found that several touched something in me. I sent an email as such. He said I could have some if I liked. I picked many and found my favorite, only knowing that the lady reminded me of something, several things.

The elderly woman I shall call Pearl (the name of the magazine I hope to start this August). Pearl was my grandmother, very near and dear. My other grandmother lived on an island way up north. She was a very hard worker, kind of like the lady shown. There’s a third element I’ll save for the end. Who cares about these ladies? I do. I listened to their stories over the years, over and over. I spent numerous hours within their care and guidance. That’s what happens when your mother has five children. You become the babysitter or end up at grandma’s house. I count that as a blessing!

Endless hours of coloring books, making brownies, watching cartoons, running up to the corner drugstore buying whatever you want, like candy. The other grandmother lived so far away you had to spend the summer there. Wow. I was on my own. I had to learn to cook, to fish, to milk cows, bail boats, raise the flag on the pole and take it down securely and properly with pride. Then there was church-that’s a segment by itself. You see I had no complaints growing up; I was too busy. I loved it.

I wonder about the lady in the picture. Where is she going? Is she off to the market to buy a fresh catch? Or has she just been to church and given little of her little cash worth? What story has she told her grandchildren? Does she have any? Who cares? I do. We need to care about these ladies who have weathered everything. They have little money, little things, but pride, oh yes. And stories to tell if you listen. We’ve moved away so our youth have very few elders to help them and make them feel empowered by ones that love them. Day care has walls and strange faces, at first, anyway. Family should take care of family when available. Impressions are being made on your little humans wherever you plant them. Love them good.

You see my own mother lost her husband to a tragedy while pregnant with me. What did she do? She went back to work and hired a nanny for my sister and I. They tell me I had a black nanny. I don’t remember. But possibly my brain remembers and that’s why this picture touches me. I wonder what stories she told me? I have a connection as I started out in life and it was a person of color that affected and touched me. I’m sure of it. She spent every day with me while my mother worked. That and the purse. While that woman in the picture holds onto her purse my very own grandmother had one of her own.

My beautiful Pearl clutched onto her purse with her money in it after she sold her home. She lay bedridden for many years prior but had bought and sold her home herself. She had worked her entire life and the money lay in her purse for a little while anyway. These are the threads of life in all of us. These are our connections. They’ve been there all along we just become numb through others not telling us the correct stories or are out for our money, or prevent us from getting ahead through inequality. The picture above is my Pearl, not my biologic Pearl, but the story of who we are. She had legs that took her places while my grandmother did not. But they both had the purse. And I care about that. Pearl is a great name for a magazine I think. What do you think?

You never know when inspiration will strike. And boy did it strike me yesterday. I am actually on hiatus as I’ve just released two books, one in December and the other a few weeks ago. Why am I on hiatus? From writing? Because I’m selling my home. That’s big business with going through everything from a lifetime, to cleaning, to Goodwill and beyond. Oh yeah: the windows, the gutters, the carpets must all be cleaned, and of course, the storage room and garage, too. We must make it look glorious for a prospective new home owner!

Put the sign in the yard. What for? We have the internet. Take the pet with you when you leave to show the house. Details. I’m headed for that simpler life. How on earth did I do it all?

By Caroline Clemens

Photography by APMcGrath

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Tags: art, blog, blogging, books, business, church, elderly, grandmothers, houses, inspiration, learning, montserrat, pearl, photography, purse, purses, selling, Travel