One of my earliest memories of my Granny, Eula (Rhodes) Littlepage, is when we stayed at her house when my younger sister Sue was born. She bustled around doing all the necessary things that must be done to birth a baby and then to care for all of us afterwards. She had a real purpose in her life and rose to the occasion. I remember also how devoted she and Aunt Emma were to their mother. They cared for her for many years, arguing and fighting, like two sisters do, about who would do what for their mother. It was funny to us kids to see two old ladies making such a big to-do.

After we moved from Sebree, Kentucky to Evansville, Indiana, Granny came to stay "a few days" with us many times. She liked to be there and enjoyed all the activity. When I came home from school she would almost always ask "what happened today?" and there was almost always something to tell. Then I'd sit and listen to her and Mom talk about the old days in Sebree, who married who and where they lived, on the hill, at the coal mine, down by Green River, etc etc etc until I got too bored.

One day I came home and told Granny I'd been Saved, that Jesus came into my heart. She was very happy about that! When I told her I was going to read the WHOLE bible, she chuckled that laugh of hers and said
"W-E-L-L, I'm sure you think so" but I took it for a challenge and did read it all, the begats and everything, to prove her wrong. Maybe Granny was smarter than we thought. Many years later I was talking to her about baptism. She said she believed in baptism but only in moving water, like a river. She thought it was the only way to wash your sins away. I asked her if your sins were washed away down the river, could they stick to someone else who was downstream? She laughed at that but had no answer. I guess she didn't understand the symbolism of the rite of baptism, the being buried with Christ and arising to a new life.

Somethings did escape Granny's understanding. When I was grown up and had two children, I would often bring Mom and Granny to my home for the afternoon and dinner. One very hot day I went to Mom's to pick them up and told Granny she'd better bring a sweater because our house was air-conditioned. She said it was too hot to need a sweater and wouldn't bring it. After being at my house for awhile she said I'd been right that the weather had taken a turn for the worse and she was cold. I got her a sweater of mine to wear and told her it was the air conditioning that made her cold. "Yes, yes," she said "I know you have all the latest inventions." Then, when it was time to take them home, I asked her if she wanted to leave my sweater, she said no, it was cold and she needed it. About half way home she was sweating and uncomfortable but she wore that sweater all the way back to Mom's. Then she took it off and said I'd better wear it back home because the weather was much cooler on my side of town. She never quite got it about the new-fangled air-conditioning.

I had many memories of my Granny. It's likely she was a big influence on my life as I've no doubt inherited her disposition - stubborn and a little cranky.

~ ~ ~ ~ Submitted by Jane Sellers McBroom.

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This project was inspired by the terrific
Sumner County TN Family Album.
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