Things that my grandmother taught me

My grandmother, Ida Merle, was an emergency room nurse at a hospital in Columbus, Ga. She had flaming red hair that curled of it's own accord and a stubborn streak that matched it. She was amazing and had a gentle kindness that was always there for us. She would make us big old southern meals, even if it was the smell and sizzle of sausage at 6 am on a Saturday morning during summer. She was one of my heroes but some of it didn't come until several years after she had passed away.

Grandma was determined to raise flowers around her property and most of them are my personal favorites, like Tiger Lilies (which I have one tattooed on my upper back). She could raise hydrangeas of all colors and would be stern with them if a certain one wasn't the color she was trying for. How dare they be purple instead of the pink that she wanted. Gotta love it.

She told me horror stories of the real life emergencies that came through the emergency room in order to show me what can happen to a young girl who didn't take care of herself. This was on a range from a couple that was hit by a car while they were necking in a parking lot to the diseases that caused immense pain to the ladies who were unfortunate with their partners. I was a preteen when the stories were repeated and she just wanted to make sure that I always thought things out before I reacted in a physical way, let alone emotional. Of course, being that young, I didn't absorb it all until much later, when the body already had some of the scars of hard lessons learned.

She taught me that disrespect came in many forms, back talking, a negative connotation, or a dirty look that wasn't "christian-like". The woman once beaned me with a silver soup ladle for back talking to her that I didn't feel like coming in for dinner. My ears rang louder than church bells that day and I made sure to apologize before I was allowed one bite of the amazing meal that was placed in front of me.

Later on, I found out that she had been a victim of abuse and it dug deep as I'm a victim as well. She didn't have to be with someone that hurt her so many years ago but her beliefs were made of more classical training in her specific circumstance. From her strong will, I was taught that no one had to take that, no matter how many times love was professed. Love is reported to hurt but in these cases, it never should.

Ida Merle was a rock in my life of waterfalls. She still is as I take her advice into consideration when faced with imposing possibilities. She kept me from sleeping around as a teenager and young adult, that love does not always equal pain, and that you could root happiness anywhere in your life as long as you kept it watered.

I miss you Ida Merle (Grandma) and I appreciate everything that you did for me, then and now.

)))Corset Hugs(((          Ginny Lynn           Wench Writer