A crazy quilt of poems, stories, and humor by Catherine Hamrick
Humor
The French Kiss, according to Mom
Twenty years ago this month, my mom (known as Miss Bunny) and I launched on her first grand tour of France. Mom’s period taste in art took a downturn after the Impressionists. Miss Bunny was quite the critic when she studied The Kiss, as interpreted by three modern artists. She lectured museum placards; it was a […]
MoreMom: Wonder Woman without the Skimpy Suit
Peggy, my younger sister, wept bitterly on her first day of school. “Honey, don’t worry,” my mother reassured. “You’ll be home before you know it.” My sister cried louder. “You’ll love school. You’ll read and color.” “But you’re so old!” Peggy squalled, tears of shame on her face. Mom, her hair already turning fine silver by […]
MoreNannie Was No Ding-a-ling
Miss Mattie, Nannie’s grandmother, plunked sprightly tunes on the piano, crocheted, embroidered, sketched fruit bowls and cherubs, and danced divinely. At sweet 16, she waltzed down the aisle with 56-year-old Grandfather Dorn. Unlike most women, Miss Mattie skipped out on promotion to matronly duties after the wedding night. Forever Grandfather Dorn’s demure Missy, she rarely […]
MoreEarth Day & Diaper Daze
No new mom leads a pampered life. However, a new day dawned with disposable diapers. They dispatched the cotton-diaper E-yew toilet-dunking moment to limbo, despite a few environmental holdouts. Although Procter & Gamble debuted disposable diapers in 1961—just in time for my sister Peggy’s arrival—my mother spurned this new-fangled notion. In the brave new world […]
MoreThe Kitchen Shower
In response to The Daily Post prompt: “Ingredients”—what’s the magic ingredient in your kitchen you can’t do without? Easy! Love with a pinch of good advice. As a young woman, I resisted ritual. I didn’t care which university won which rivalry. Secular sin! I tramped around Europe instead of stepping out at a debutante ball. […]
MoreThank-You Notes—Just Do It
Never cross a Southern dowager. Period. Within hours of the delivery of my first wedding gift, Mom handed over an alphabetized recipe filing box replete with 3×5 index cards for documentation. “Just do it. Now. Not later.” That meant scrawling the name of the giver, the address, a clear description of the gift, and the […]
MoreFarmer Leon Goes Squirrely
My dad’s garden mania shot up when his children-sharecroppers (forced labor until their early teen years) scattered. He doubled the crop when the next-door neighbor gave him permission to plow through the lower end of their backyard. These events forced Dad to double his hours in the garden. My mother never commented, but she developed a blank stare […]
MoreBlooming on a Delayed Timetable
Catching a man couldn’t begin too early in the South. Not that mamas coached their babies in helpless sighs, arch glances, and pretty pouts. Those charms came naturally—at least for a few girls who budded early, their hot-pink and lime-green dresses giving the dusty playground a lush look. Their hair, parted precisely in the middle, rippled long […]
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