The Book

It is said Southern Women are Steel Magnolias, and that is often the case. I decided to write a book about the strongest Magnolia I knew, a true Magnolia grandiflora - my mother. Like anyone, there were many sides to her. She was extremely complicated, to say the least. Her lifetime was full of love and loss, joy and hardship, downfalls and redemption, relapse and recovery. But through it all, there were some things she never lost sight of: always mind your manners, pay your Junior League dues, and don't forget to polish the silver. And when it was all over, I learned she was even more complicated than I thought. I loved her so, but like so many of us, never told her enough.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

And Down She Goes . . .

Well, I hope the party is not over. As I knew it would, the book's ranking has slipped past #8 and I will not check today.  To continue my "Bits and Pieces" Tour, here are a few paragraphs of Chapter 25 "The Arts and Furnishings of High Acres". (This comes from the middle of the Chapter.)


      Daddy paid Stanbury for the trunks and gave him a little more guidance for the next sale. Sure enough, the next time up we found two antique trunks with beautiful leather and wood, and lovely
paper linings. Mama was thrilled. She thanked Stanbury profusely. He beamed in pride. They rarely spoke the same language and he was thrilled he had finally made her happy. She then asked, "Do you ever see any of those old iron beds at those sales? Anything like that you see, just buy it for me."

Stanbury looked at Daddy who just gave him that “Go ahead, I'll pay for it” look. From then on we never knew what treasures would await us upon our arrival at the farm. Stanbury did come through with two iron beds. One had brass balls on the corner knobs, although only on three of the four corners. There were old milk cans, a yoke for a plow mule, a dozen or so old green jars, glass transformers, a dress maker's form, a Mexican blanket, and wooden milk crates. He bought her incomplete sets of mismatched china, an old table, a chest with all the knobs missing, various odd looking chandeliers,  two cane bottom chairs, and several old quilts, just to name a few. Sometimes trash, sometimes treasure, you just never knew. One day, Daddy asked Stanbury how he knew what to buy. "Well, if it looks like junk, then I know it’s what Miss Zenith wants. Darn if I know why. But I buy it any way."

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