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, January 16, 2014

A Bit of Chapter 32

This is the first part of Chapter 32

THREE DEGREES APART AND SOCIALISM


I have always said that where most of the universe enjoys six degrees of separation, in the South we only have three – at most. If I wasn’t aware of it before, it became painfully evident my sophomore year in college. I started dating a young man who just happened to be from the small the town nearest the farm my Mama grew up on. The first time I brought him home, naturally she was curious to find out who his family was. 

Of all the nice young men at college, not only did I manage to pick one from my Mama’s home town, I found one whose mother was in school with my mother. To make things even more interesting, they were mortal enemies. When Mama realized whose son I was dating, even her good upbringing did not keep her from making snippy remarks.

And the feeling was mutual because when my beau revealed the identity of my mother to his own mother, apparently the reception was not much kinder. In the two and a half years we dated, I never got invited home with him. We would visit his parents at their place at the beach, but never at their home. 

Needless to say he dreaded coming home with me. If dealing with my mother wasn’t enough,  . . .

(You'll have to wait for the book to see how it unfolds.)

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