When I’m confronted with frightening challenges that seem insurmountable, I often think about Grandmother Sally. More times than I can count, a glance at her photograph on the bookcase has given me the knowledge that I will be able to handle whatever obstacles are blocking my path. Since the economy crashed last year, I’ve looked at that portrait often.
One of six children, “Sally Mary” grew up on a farm in Nansemond County, Virginia, near the North Carolina line. As was typical of young farm girls of the time, she left school at an early age to stay home and help with chores. Apparently, she wasn’t a fan of the country life as she moved away from home as a teenager to start anew in the city. In Raleigh, North Carolina, she landed a job as a maid in one of the larger hotels. She must have heard that there were more opportunities up north, because she soon relocated to Richmond, Virginia, where she worked in the John Marshall Hotel. There she met my Grandfather, a hotel clerk.
Over the years, the couple had three daughters, the youngest of whom was my mother. When mother was about five years old, her parents’ marriage broke up. I’m not entirely sure what caused the break up, as people didn’t talk about such things in those days. I do know that in the throes of our nation’s Great Depression, Sally Mary found herself in the big City of Richmond trying to support three children with no job and an eighth grade education.
She had learned from her early years as a hotel maid that she could not earn enough to take care of the family if she worked for someone else. She believed she could succeed only if she were self-employed. Somehow, she got together enough money to open her own beauty salon. An excellent cook, she later opened the “Tea Room”, a popular, uptown restaurant. At the end of the day, she had not only provided for her children during hard times, but she managed to leave an estate that helped take care of her ten grandchildren. She believed that a college education was crucial. My mother’s share of the estate paid for my first two years at Westhampton College.
Growing up, we heard many stories about Sally Mary, but the one I think of most often was the one about the food fight. One evening, as Grandmother was preparing dinner, she went to get an egg from the refrigerator. She planned to use the egg to dress up a sauce she was making. My mother saw that Sally Mary had taken the last egg from the ice box.
“You can’t use that egg for sauce,” she objected. “It’s the last one we have. We’ll need it for breakfast in the morning!” A fierce argument ensued. In the end, that night’s entrée was accompanied by a delicious sauce.
I think about that story often these days. Like most Americans, I’ve never experienced a financial “slow down” as dramatic as this one. Sometimes, I find myself worrying about how long it will drag out and how much financial damage it will cause me and the people I care about. Then I think about Grandmother’s attitude about that egg.
With little education, training or experience, and no financial help from the government or anyone else, she faced down a national economic disaster that threatened her and her three children. Hard work and an unshakable confidence that she could succeed paid off. She didn’t hesitate to use that last egg. She knew she could always find a way to provide for the ones she loved. And well she did. Thanks, Sally Mary, for everything.
