Interview with G-mama

G-mama, age 97, today!
Dee, age 41 11/12
Stanley, age 10 5/6

In honor of G-mama’s birthday today, I conducted a brief interview. Here are some of the highlights.

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your all-time favorite book? The Bible.

What is your all-time favorite movie? Gone with the Wind.

What was your most memorable family vacation? We had a lot of those. But probably the one at the beach when Dana told us that they were expecting Amelia.

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in your 97 years? Electricity. Transportation. Plumbing. I’ll never forget being with mama one time when there was snow on the ground and everything outside was frozen. We flushed the commode and all of that stuff came back up into the tub. I cried and cried and Mama looked at me and said, “Nina don’t cry, not everyone even has plumbing to back up.”

What activities and music were popular when you were a teenager? That’s so long ago that I don’t remember! I do remember Kay Kyser. He was a big band leader. We didn’t have a radio inside at first, but I’d go sit and listen on daddy’s car radio. And then we got one of those little round top radios.

Do you remember any of your teacher’s names? Oh yes. Mrs. Harrison taught me 1st and 2nd grade. Mrs. Bowen taught me 5th grade. Mrs. Sawyer taught me 3rd grade. And Mrs. McGowen taught me French in high school. She was a little tiny girl from SC, and she was strict! She married a lawyer from Warrenton. I also had a man who taught history—or he pretended. He didn’t teach much at all. All you had to do was write a long paper. He never read it, but he’d give you an A. He was just out of college. Mr. Cooper was the principal.

What else do you remember about school? We had 11th grade graduation. That’s the time when they were consolidating and putting in a 12th grade. So I graduated from 11th grade and then went back and took college classes. I took typing and business arithmetic. A whole heavy load. And then I graduated 12th grade. And then I took the rest of my college courses when I went to Campbell to even it out. I got the 2-year certificate from Campbell but I only went one year.

What is something you remember about going to Campbell? Going to chapel one week and learning about etiquette! I remember it vividly. They taught us how to fold a napkin, how to sit down and stand up, how boys should hold the door, how to pass to the right—not left. It was full etiquette talk, right in the middle of chapel!

What was your first job? They had something for all the poor country folks. The WPA—Works Progress Administration. That’s what the men did. They made all the roads and such. The summer after I finished at Campbell, I was the secretary to the lady in charge of Warren and Halifax counties.

What drew you to G-daddy? I don’t know how you answer that. We were in class together and he picked up pencils that rolled off of my desk. He was the TA. And I don’t know how to describe it. But it just happened. I reckon it was the way the Lord made us.

What is one of your most vivid memories with G-daddy? On the last day of school at Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Kidd drove up to get June. He had picked out a bracelet for me but didn’t have enough money to pay for it so they bought it for him. Then we rode down the road to a little church in Angier and he gave me the bracelet. That was goodbye for the summer. I didn’t know if I’d see him again. When do you ever know if you’ll see someone again? But then he came to visit on July 4th of that summer. And then again after I’d gotten a job in Angier. And then we got married.
What is something about you that most people don’t know? I couldn’t sing. I tried to sing. I wasn’t good enough for Glee club.
What advice do you have for young people today? Try to go to church and follow the Bible teachings. And take care of yourself by eating, sleeping, exercising.