Grandmother

She wasn’t very tall and didn’t look too muscular, but Dorothy Price would be anybody- boy, girl, adult or child- anybody’s ass if they crossed her. My grandmother was hard as a rock, and everyone knew it. There was no “acting a fool” in her house, and her 8 children knew exactly what they were in for if she heard they were misbehaving.

Her eyes were always red and her mind was tired, but her body never stopped. She worked two jobs to keep food on the table, as she was a single mother of 8. But it wasn’t just her children that would come home for dinner when she would call out from the door. Eight of her own followed by maybe three or four friends, a few cousins would maybe stop by, a local maintenance worker who just got off the job and was craving a hot meal, and others, would all come by the house to enjoy the perfectly seasoned, crispy crunchy fried chicken and sweet, fluffy biscuits that she prepared. Dorothy was a strong woman who cared extensively for her family and community.

Every night at 6:30, she would come home from her second job, place her things on the table in the hall and head for the kitchen. The bare chicken was breaded and tastefully seasoned and then fried to a golden crisp. Meanwhile, she’d have the corn, collard greens, potatoes and hushpuppies all going, and no problem keeping up with all of that. When it was just about dinner time, she’d yell out the front door, “All y’all kids get on in here and wash up, it’s ‘bout time to eat,” and without hesitation, all eight hurried in to clean their hands and faces. Never did anyone go without a meal on that side of the railroad tracks in Hogansville, GA. Ms. Dot fed any face that came to the door. Her generosity never ceased to expand, and if any honest person needed anything, they knew where to go.

However, her generosity went hand in hand with her expectations that the people that came to her house never brought trouble. “I don’t play around,” she always said, “and I won’t ever have my family in danger because of my big heart. If you come in here to eat and enjoy ya’self, then that there is alright, but I won’t tolerate none of that other foolishness.” And she stuck to her word. Her loving but stern ways were only two of the many characteristics that made her a wonderful neighbor, aunt, sister, mother and grandmother.