Cast of Characters

Going along with the theme of my previous post, I have to tell you a little bit about my family history. Most of you know I went to a bizarre little school where the only literature we ever studied was the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress. I never wrote an essay and the only science I learned was intellilgent design, or as we called it back then, " we don't come from no monkeys!" Many of the kids that went to school there, were there because their family either, did not want them around black people, they had been kicked out of public schools for abnormal behavior, or their parents went to the church that was in charge of the school. I was part of the last group.

I believe that I was a born radical. I read books that no one else even heard of and was constantly in trouble. I believe I got my rebellious streak from my grandmother, who refused to be called Granny, Grandmother or anything else maternal sounding. She was one of those women that are in every small southern town that was close friends with the sheriff and could get a ticket fixed with a phone call. She had several husbands (5 to be exact) who were prominent blue-collar businessmen and she owned a restaurant called "The Blue Bird Cafe" that is still opened in downtown Brunswick. Her husbands were strange men. Her first husband, my grandpa, owned a boarding house for horses and would take me to all the horse shows. He would sit in a chair and yell at the horses as they went around the barrel's. I would sit between his knees and feel like the luckiest little girl in the world. He had left Dixie and my mom and her sister when they were very young, but as he grew older he decided to be a part of his grandchildren life. He died shortly after this decision, which is how my luck seems to go.

Dixie's next husband (I won't go though them all as some are more memorable than others) was Cecil. Cecil owned a Catepillar dealership and he was the love of Dixie's life. When he tried to leave her, she pulled out her pistol and tried to shoot him, but the gun went off and she shot herself in the foot. She was never charged with anything (see the note about the sheriff above). A few years after Cecil, Dixie married a man named Hershel. Hershel was a drunk chef who owned a catering business that had recently suffered because of his drinking. I will never forget the Thanksgiving after they married. Herschel impressed everyone with a fabulous spread. I have never since had better sweet potatoes than Herschel's. After a couple of glorious thanksgiving dinners, Dixie got tired of Herschel and kicked him out. We were all devastated. I loved Herschel and his funny drunken ways. Herschel got drunk one night after their divorce and was killed in a car accident. God bless his soul, he was a good man in spite of the drink.

I could go on and on about Dixie and her stories, but this has been to long and I need to get to my point: I have a lot of Dixie in me. My first best friend in school was kicked out because they caught her in the bathroom unfolding sanitary napkins and looking at them. I married a man that loved to drink and have a good time and was a fabulous chef. I also contemplated killing him several times, and if I had a gun, I may have followed through. I get tired of guys after a few years and want to move on, but I have too much of my mom in me as well and I try to do the "right thing," whatever that may mean. Dixie's granddaughter all have a bit of her in them and we know this, but we seemed doomed to repeat her mistakes. I guess there is a lot of power in the blood.