A Fading Way of Life

Somewhere in this whole growing up process you grow in to an adult and then begin to think like one. I know it is on a sad note… but back several months ago the thought occurred to me that if I died who would teach Braley all the things a Southern girl should know? There is NO doubt in my mind that Braley would be loved but some things a girl just need to hear from her Mama. On that thought I was inspired to write my own little “Guide to Life” for her. It is a work in progress but I thought blogging it may help keep me inspired to follow through.

A Fading Way of Life

Email has replaced letters. Television has replaced conversation. There will never be
a replacement for home. Value your traditions & what you have learned
from your family.
-Anonymous

The secret to Grannies’ biscuits, canning vegetables at the height of summer, bringing out the best dishes and tablecloth for Sunday supper with family: are traditions quickly being lost to the fast pace of life and modern day convinces. I am afraid our Southern traditions and way of life are quickly disappearing.

Unfortunately, we are all guilty of not spending enough time with our families, especially our children. As parents it is our responsibility to teach our children about our families’ traditions, their roots and heritage. If I’m not here who is going to teach Braley how to make perfect dumplings.

In the South we are taught to have pride. Whether we drink from mason jars or crystal, belong to a Country Club or a hunting club we share a common identity. We value manners, tradition, and families. The feeling we get when we taste a good hot biscuit that reminds us of Grannies, the taste of Dad’s jelly, we need to preserve what is good about our Southern way of life.

Some of the best memories from childhood are the family gathering we used to have. The whole family would be there along with the neighbors who might as well have been kin. We’d get together for every occasion you could think of: Holidays, graduations, baby showers, birthdays, weddings and even funerals. The gatherings weren’t about entertainment or to show off what you had, they were about being together as a family, celebrating life’s milestones. Families helped one another in times of need, they cried, laughed and celebrated… together. And let’s not forget the covered dish dinners that accompanied those gatherings.

Today families don’t sit down together. The convience of drive throughs, take out and frozen food have replaced the home cooked meal. Most of us making up the current generation didn’t grow up with a stay at home mom. Mama was off to work every morning helping to provide a roof over our head and food on the table. Time didn’t allow for our Mama’s to cook like Grandma. She was doing the best she could to get dinner on the table, the same tradition we are following today. We all long for a home cooked meal like Grandma used to make. We Southern girls need to bring family time back. Just one afternoon a week turn off the television, the phones (home & cell), and the radios or should I say IPods; grab the kids head to the kitchen and pull out an old family recipe. Invite some family over or the next door neighbor. Home cooked meals are a tradition hard to save; life is complicated and we are crunched for time- but we must make the time. The kitchen is the heart of a Southern home we need to get our families and friends there and sit down together- we must never be to busy to love or laugh.

Our life is full of tradition, we cherish doing things the way the generations before us did. We have the rules of Southern etiquette down pat and know how to use them. I want to share the stories my Papa told me with my children. I have grown to love the Southern gospel music I despised as a child, the sound of the steel guitar, a cast iorn skillet, Baptist preachers who get hot around the collars, take off their coats and loose track of time.
These are the traditions our children need to cherish, a love for doing things the way our family has done it for years.

* Southern Tradition Is…. *

* Honor: We don’t cheat, lie, or embezzle.

* Courtesy: We call our elders Sir and Ma’am and always give up our seats to pregnant ladies.

* Place: We know where our kin are buried and who our neighbors are

* The Soil: We all want a garden with sweet, red tomatoes.

* Simplicity: We’d rather be laughing with friends on front porches than in a fancy club.

* Pride: Don’t you dare insult our mamas.

* Respect: We won’t say anything about your mama.

* Wisdom: We know that people are more valuable than things or ideas.

We Southern girls need to help preserve our traditions, the simple life of the generations before us. The world around us changes daily and we are just trying to keep the pace in all the craziness. We must master the art of incorporating the new without replacing our pasts.

Remember that no matter what life throws at you we have our traditions and our Southern girl charm.

Things every Southern girl should know:

* Dress to impress
- As my Nanny used to say “Always look your best you could run into the
President at Callahan’s’”
- Always remember that when you run into the store in less than you best, hoping
to see no one you know…. you will see everyone you have ever met.
* Whether you wear them or not you must own a strand of Pearls
* You are suppose to work in the yard and have pretty flower beds- that’s just the way it is
* At least once you have to watch Gone with the Wind & Steel Magnolias
* Know how to make a pot of grits and a biscuit
* Finally, remember those antiques you like to collect where once somebody’s something
new- like tradition bring in the new while holding on to the old.

This has got to be one favorite photos. (I only wish I had decked this picture out a little more. Oh, the camera skills I have learned in 3 years. And it has only taken me one child to figure out that babies don't break. I was one nervous "NEW" Mama laying my baby down in this field.