2022-MOC-DAY-26-Tributev2

I come from a long line of strong-minded women and my mother's mother was a force to be reckoned with!!! for sure... All 5’ of her! She had strong opinions that were not to be argued with. She was NOT at all happy when the Bracey’s, a black family, moved into our neighborhood... although not quite as upset as the people who lived right across the street from them, who had a daughter a year older than Janice, the oldest in the new family of 6 children!!!. I too have always been a force to be reckoned with and no amount of Grandma’s disapproval was going to stop me from becoming friends with whomever I chose... Thus Janice and I became friends, and our friendship is still important to us, all these many years later... I visit her whenever I am in Spokane and we exchange Christmas cards... But this piece is not about Janice or my Grandmother... They just set the stage.... Mrs. Bracey was the Mom of all Moms... We were in the 3rd grade when they moved into their tiny little house.... She almost immediately decided we girls needed to learn how to cook and sew, so she started a little group for girls of our age, where she taught us all the skills needed to be a wife and Mommy... which was the goal of virtually all little girls of that generation. Although my grandmother once made her living as a seamstress, sewing dresses for the “ladies of the night” in the waterfront area of Seattle, it was Mrs. Bracey who taught me to sew... I remember learning all the little hand-sewing stitches and I think we made some sort of a book to keep the samples in... I don’t remember as much about learning to cook, but I do remember they ate Sweet potato pie, NOT the pumpkin pie I was used to... I thought that very strange!!! I learned to drink coffee at their house also... loaded with cream and sugar.... (Drink it black now). When we finally reached the age of 12 we were old enough to join the Y and become Y-Teens... we continued learning about life and enjoyed a few banquets. I do not remember when, or how, or why all of this stopped.. before HS, I think when we all sort of went our different ways, although at the same school. All of that said... Mrs. Bracey was a huge part of my early learning process. The photo here was taken the last time I saw her which was August of 2017. She died almost a year later on May 9, 2018 of natural causes at the age of 93....

Templaterjefferies-rituals-morning-bloghop
lbw_COMPASS_FWP_pp01a
blended into
KAagard_Compass_Solid7
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Free-with-15-Purchase-COLLAB-compass.html

lgrieveson_I_wander_paint_transfer
https://the-lilypad.com/store/I-Wander-Kit.html

nbk-AC46-ArtsyBit-3

https://the-lilypad.com/store/artCrush-46-ABP.html
nbk-AC47
https://the-lilypad.com/store/artCrush-47-elements.html

Soco_SewingMemories
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Sewing-Memories-Elements.html