Born in 1918

Annie Lottie Battle Lee was born January 3, 1918 in Schley County, GA. She is now 91 years old. Her mind and body are failing her and her childhood is never far from her mind.

She was born in a jail house. The daughter of a sheriff / gentleman farmer and a school teacher. For the winter months they lived in the jail house and the summertime they would live in the country on the farm. She had a handful of siblings and numerous friends both in the city and the country. Her idea of fun back in the day was a country dance at her parents home. They would remove all the furniture from one of the rooms and have chairs for a few guys to play guitars and violins or whatever and the rest would dance, laugh and talk. She also enjoyed going fishing with one of her brothers. Her mom wouldn't let her go to the creek where neighbors might see them (if it was on a Sunday). She insisted instead they walk through the woods to a creek no one would see them at. She seemed to think they might be against it because you weren't supposed to work on a Sunday but in Grandma's eyes that was all fun!

Her mom also curled her hair daily. She kept telling Anna how lucky she is that I only comb it and pull it up or braid it. She was tortured daily for the sake of big curls. I bet they were pretty though!

She remembers guys that would bring planes to open fields and would sale rides. If you have ever seen Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood that is what it all sounded like.

She talked about out living almost all of her siblings and most of the other families in the area. I can't imagine how lonely that must feel. She said she wonders what purpose God still has for her, that He would keep her here for so long. I know He is keeping her here for me and all of the other grandchildren and great grands. I don't get to see her often enough but I love knowing she is there. I found myself more often than not over the past few days wanting to really open up to her. I know that her life has been full. She has done some things right and some things wrong, it makes it easier to want to talk to her.

I feel so blessed to have had my grandma around for so long. I wanted to document some of what she remembers for Anna to have.

Anna enjoyed our visit with Grandma this time. She was only frustrated when Grandma couldn't get in the floor to play games with her. I think it delighted Grandma that Anna wanted to play games so much. Grandma LOVES playing games. Any kind of game really. We played Dominoes and Anna did very well with it. That tickled Grandma. I am sure she is thinking ha she gets it from me! Anna is a little freaked out by Grandma's wheelchair. She kept worrying that Grandma was going to run over her. I don't know where this fear came from. Today before we left she helped move the wheel chair while Grandma was in it which seemed to relax her a little. Anna loved her recliner chair that lifts. Anna thought having a remote for a chair was the coolest thing ever! Grandma even let her lift her and move her all about for 10 or 15 minutes!

Our time in the country!

We had a great trip. We ended up leaving Wednesday instead of Thursday because the weather was going down hill. So we headed out at lunch time and Anna slept for a good portion of the trip. That was nice! When she did wake up she sat in the seat and played and chatted with me so we didn't even stop. It was a 3.5 hour trip!

We got there and she was all shy with Grandma but she was quickly won over when Grandma let her go in and out the screen door through the screen (it was already broken). She was playing with the puppies well sorta lol. She was a little scared of them. Her dog is huge and old and these little tiny pups were playful and energetic. She finally adjusted to them and didn't freak out unless they nipped at her or jumped on her. She loved having freedom to come in and out without assistance. I sat inside in the door and watched her playing. She was content to just roam around and discover the world that she was in. She figured out pretty quickly how to climb in and out of the rail at Grandma's ramp so she did that a lot. She played in the (play) car in the yard and ran around with the puppies. After she was growing tired of that we decided to broaden her world a little more and went for a walk to see the cows. She LOVED the cows. They would moo and she would squeal and cheer. No wonder the cows would run from us lol. Through the course of the rest of the week I did teach her to be quiet so that we could get closer. We also saw and climbed on the tractor and the hay bales. She had so much fun I guess some things are passed down in the genes.

Things she didn't like: the noise of the house when it was full to bursting. The crowd at the reunion we went to because she didn't know hardly anyone there. Not being able to stay outside ALL the time lol. That is all I can think of that she didn't enjoy.

I enjoyed reliving a part of my youth. Walking down by the pasture. Taking a ride through the pasture on the back of a truck. Granite it was at night and Anna was a little freaked at first but it was fun. Picking pecans from my Great Grandma's tree and eating them. Visiting with cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Mostly visiting with Grandma! Letting her get to know Anna and learning more about her past as well. It was a joy to be with her and I hope that we can do it again.

Great Grandma's House!

This is the site of what used to be my Great-Grandma's house. You can't really tell a lot by the pictures but it held many happy memories for my Grandma and my Dad too. It had 2 fireplaces and 3 porches. I don't know how many bedrooms but enough for them to live cozily with I think 5 children. Maybe 6 I am not sure. The front porch had one door that opened up onto it and the other room didn't have a door onto it. The side porch was used for the washing machine and later a bathroom was added to it taking up most of the porch. My Grandma and her family only lived there during the summer for most of her life and spent the rest of the year in town over the jail house because her Daddy was the Sherriff in town. During the summer though he worked the farm on many - many acres of land. My Grandma was actually born in the jail house. How funny is that. She said that she delivered quite a few of her children in the house that was her parents. She was telling me about the trees they had; pecan trees that are still there and producing. She said they also had 2 pomegranate trees and a pear tree. They are still there but they are dead. They had pigs and chickens and cows. My Grandma's chore was milking the cows (her and one of her siblings). Her Mom would always get the eggs from the chickens. My Grandma now lives across the street from her childhood home. She has been there since 1959 and loves being so close to where she grew up. She likes being able to look out and see the trees that can bring back her childhood memories. I wish the house were still standing. I walked through it when I was a child before it became totally unstable. I would give anything to walk through and take photos and be able to record the past on film. Instead I have to write this up so that next week when I have forgotten all of this it will be here. I will be able to look it up at any time and Anna will be able to visualize her long ago ancestors. Anna is named for her Great Grandma and she was named after her mother so there is a long line of family tied into Anna's life. If any of my family reads this and wants to add something leave me a comment and I will take care of it. I love journaling true history!

Life

My life is entertaining to say the least. Anna and I stay busy. Mainly because Anna doesn't like to chill out. I think she gets that from her Daddy. He has no idea how to relax. Even on the cruise we took several years ago; he couldn't really relax. Sitting on the boat could have been considered cruel and unusual punishment. Me on the other hand; I love to relax and chill out. Anywho, Our life is going to stay busy for the next few weeks. Chris is trying to finish up his Masters degree and is up to his eyeballs in stuff dealing with that. So I have decided that Anna and I will spend the next few weeks traveling on the weekends. That way he can focus on work and not feel guilty about not being here. I won't have to feel neglected because I will be doing something. Anna will be going which is what she loves. That way it is a win ~ win ~ win!

So this weekend we are going to a reunion for my Dad's family. My Grandfather had about 50 kids lol just kidding but he did have something like 12 kids with his first wife and 7 with my Grandma. So they have started all getting together once a year. My Grandfather has been gone since my Dad was 13 so it is kind of cool to get a glimpse of who he was. The main reason I am going though is to see my Grandma! She is 89 years old (90 in January). She is an inspiration to me with all of the trials and tribulations she has gone through. I didn't appreciate her when I was younger. Now I feel huge regrets for all of the time I missed out on with her because I was to self absorbed to go see her. So now I like to soak her up when I get the chance. It really does break my heart to go see her though. She has the same conversation over and over again. At least she still knows us and all that. I called her yesterday to let her know I was coming and she knew who I was before I even told her. That makes me feel good!

Next weekend we will be going somewhere with my sis in law and mil to celebrate sis's birthday! I guess we are still going somewhere who knows lol. I don't know where we will be going and I guess we might end up not going anywhere. However, Anna and I will still be going in that direction so that Chris can get some homework done.

So both of my blogs will be a little neglected over the next few weeks. I will probably be blogging early in the week and then not so much later in the week. Just thought I would pass this on to you guys!

My Grandma: Annie

So we went to see my Grandma this weekend. It is so very hard seeing someone that use to be so young and vital get so old and run down. She is almost 90 years old and I guess if you take that into consideration she is doing GREAT!!! She is getting pretty forgetful and she doesn't really have the use of her legs anymore. She can get around if she has something to hold onto for support but that will exhaust her. She has a very bad heart going about 5 ft in her wheel chair being propelled by her arms and feet will be about all she can do anymore. This is the lady that planted a vegetable garden every year and was always on the go - always into something. Word is I get my nosiness from her although I don't think we are nosey at all we are just curious. (Curiosity killed the cat - but satisfaction brought it back)

She is Anna's name sake. Annie - she has had a long full - sometimes trying, sometimes fun and sometimes normal life. She got pregnant out of wedlock back in the day that that was unheard of - she was given the song and dance of I am going to war and may never come home. Her parents sent her away to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Back then they made you take care of the baby I think she said for about 3 months. After taking care of her little girl she realized that giving her up for adoption was not an option! So she called her Aunt and Uncle and got permission to come live with them. She snuck out of the home during the night and got on a train to go home. I would think that took a lot of courage!!! She later met a man literally twice her age - she was 25 and he 50 got married and had 5 more children (unless I forgot someone) She had a few miscarriages in there too. She was pregnant for a very LONG time. Her husband (my Grandfather) passed away when my Dad was 13 so she had all these children to take care of ALL by herself. Now my Dad was next to last so most of them were old enough to help out but still... So she started getting her kids to call her Ms. Annie when they would go to local dances because well what man would want to talk to her if she had all these kids running up to her saying Mommy Mommy lol. She got married again but he turned out to be an alcoholic if I remember correctly. (I hope that is right because I don't really remember him well). She divorced him (again - I think lol).

I would go stay with her for 2 weeks out of the summer. She lives in the country and we would work in her garden, read books and take walks in her brothers pasture. We would go swimming in the pond and fishing. I didn't really appreciate when I was growing up what a courages and amazing woman she is - she is after all just my Grandma. I have since growing up discovered what an example to me she can be if I just open my eyes. I happen to live in the town that she was sent to to give up her baby. She came to visit and we searched all over the place until we found the home; it is no longer a home for pregnant girls it is now a nursing home. Only 1 of the original buildings is still standing but we went and looked around. I could actually feel the peace that came over her while we were there. I think she was able to put that whole experience in the past and have some closure. I love my Grandma!!! I didn't realize before but a lot of the things I enjoy in life were nurtured when visiting her! I will just conclude this by saying if you still have a grandparent out there go spend some time with them. Find out what life was like for them when they were growing up. Older people have so much to give and so few to give it too.