My Southern Belle Instructor
I called my grandmother Mema. She was born Mildred Franklin Brannen. As Southern tradition dictates, she was given her mother’s maiden name as her middle name. My parents continued the tradition (but skipped a generation) and gave me her maiden name, Brannen, to fit between my first and last names. This explains why so many Southern girls have boy’s middle names, in case you were wondering.
She was my father’s mother and she was responsible for making sure I understood all the rules for being a proper Southern Belle. And she had beautiful, big blue eyes. I was the first grandchild and had hazel green eyes. She always told me that I had Dada’s green eyes. Dada was her husband – my grandfather – whom I never knew because he was killed in a tragic tractor accident while working our family farm at Denhamville when my father was only 12 years old and my uncle, 8. Both my father and uncle inherited Mema’s blue, blue eyes. Growing up, I could always tell if Dad was angry (and hence I should make myself scarce) because those blue eyes would become pale, almost white. I’ve researched it and learned that the phenomenon of blue eyes turning pale is due to the blood pressure spike that occurs during anger or fear…part of the fight-or-flight response.
My two younger brothers both inherited my Mom’s intense brown eyes, and my son and daughter were both born with hazel eyes. But my son’s eyes turned brown before he was one year old, while my daughter’s eyes turned from hazel to brown when she was six years old. I had thought for sure that she would’ve kept those green eyes after 6 years but alas, it was not to be. My uncle’s oldest daughter, Kaly, has Mema’s beautiful blue eyes and his son, Jeremy, has the hazel eyes like me. My uncle’s little twin daughters, Jenna & Kayla, have the blue eyes and show no sign of them changing color now that they’re 6 years old, so I guess it’s just me and Jeremy to carry on Dada’s hazel eyes.
Have you been able to keep track so far? Good. Because family history and relationships are very important here in the South. Mema made sure I understood that, too. However, I’m pretty sure that my Mema’s been rolling over in her grave for several years now, ever since I went “rogue”. That was her prediction in case I violated one of those proper Southern Belle rules – “And when I’m long dead and gone, I’ll just roll over in my grave if I catch you doing [blank].”
I miss my Mema. I wear her wedding band as part of my wedding set. I touch it every day and think of her.
Twitter
Facebook