The Heritage of Etta Bend and Remembering Etta Bend are books of the stories of my mother’s childhood on a thriving Oklahoma farm in the last century. My cousin Carolyn Cochran Karinen drew the cover pictures for both books.
Then, as now, everyone was glad to see signs of spring and know that the long winter was over. As surely as new wildflowers popped up in yard and woods, a small figure with wispy gray hair would appear on the road leading to the Levi and Edna Latty house at Etta. The newcomer was not related to the Latty family but they called her Grandma Bohannon. Each spring she would come to stay several days with them.
Grandma Bohannon lived with her stepson but come spring, she would start out on her yearly visits. She was very near sighted and completely deaf. She had no real home of her own and you would think with all those problems, she would have been grumpy. Not so! Grandma was cheerful and happy. She enjoyed helping with household chores and made the work seem like fun. When evening shadows crept down the hills of Etta Bend and Ma Latty lit the kerosene lamps, Granny would ask for a fire in the fireplace. It was really not cold enough to need a fire, but athough Granny couldn’t see well, she was able to see the flames in the firebox and this gave her joy.
Finally, Grandma would decide it was time to move along and visit other friends. The Lattys hated to see her leave, but they knew that Grandma had other places to go, other people to visit. No one thought it strange. This was a hundred years ago and times in rural Oklahoma were far more peaceful than what we know in our technological age of rush and hurry. People were honest and trusting because they had no reason to be otherwise. I think about those days now and try to imagine what life on that long ago Etta farm would have been. I wasn’t around in 1920 but although I’ve never seen those times, I miss them. They were good, honest days, those long ago days when the Lattys looked forward to a small figure trudging down the road toward their house. Grandma Bohannon was a sure sign of spring.
What a peaceful story that made me smile. Yes, I certainly would have enjoyed Spring at Etta Bend. I’m curious how Grandma Bohannan communicated with everyone.
Thanks for writing, Teresa. Mom said that Grandma Bohannon always sat at the front at church. She heard only snatches of the sermon (most old-time preachers were loud.) I don’t know how they communicated. She couldn’t take part in most of the conversations around the dinner table. Maybe they motioned to her. They found ways to communicate, and Grandma Bohannon was a cheerful, happy soul.