My Grandmother MARY BROWN

There is no HIS story unless you tell HER story, Part VIII:  My Grandmother, MARY BROWN

“Mary Brown”

That’s how my grandfather would address my grandmother.   Her full name was Mary Louise Brown Owens.   I have no idea why my grandfather would address her as “Mary Brown” but I used to get a kick out of hearing him call her by that name.  

My grandmother was always a pistol (and not always the fun way).   I DREADED staying with her when I had to spend the night with grandparents as a kid.  She would make me go to bed before it got dark (WTH??).  I had to make my bed, wash my face and be fully dressed (no pajamas) before I could eat breakfast.   I was only allowed two teaspoons of sugar on my Rice Crispies (No Fruit Loops, No Apple Jacks, No Honeycomb.  The woman was EVIL).   And the day was FILLED work.  I would have to hang clothes on the clothes line (there was NO dryer. The HORROR).  I would have to sweep and mop the living room.  I would have to sweep the porch, the side walk, and the driveway.  And after all of that was done, I could sit on the couch and watch WHATEVER THE HELL my grandfather was watching! BORING!!

And I was a talkative kid.  Grandma put the CLAMP on that quick.  I still remember her saying JUST ONCE:

“Just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you have to use it.”

Say WHAT??

DONE!  No more words from me.  And then she couldn’t figure out why I stopped talking.

And we won’t talk about the home remedies.  She made me castor oil candy.  I didn’t even know that was a thing.  And don’t get me started on the enema she convinced my mother to give me when I was a child.  I was traumatized for months after THAT ONE!!

Yes, my grandmother was a FORCE.  

But she was MY Force.

As I got older, my mother made sure I regularly visited my grandparents. When I went to college, my

grandmother regularly asked when I was going to be back in town.   When I came home from college, I made a point (due to some slight prodding from my mom) to stop and visit.  I still remember when she and mom came to visit me in college and I was having ‘girl problems’, I had to stop my grandmother when she proceeded to get out of bed and grab her robe and said “there is a problem with my grandson?  Ok let’s go handle it”.  (Oh, I learned the phrase MAN UP quick that day.  How could I let my GRANDMOTHER handle my relationship problems?  SAVAGE!  Not that day!)

And, as I got older, I started getting a better picture of my grandmother from my mom.  Pictures my mom shared with me of my grandmother in her youth looked like a young Lena Horne (for my young heads, think Jurnee Smollett or Zendaya).  As my mom would describe her, my grandmother had ‘long hair, a big smile and would cuss you out instead of saying good morning’.   My mother told the story of how my grandmother almost confronted her supervisor who decided to NOT pay her because she didn’t like my grandmother (WITH A 38 special - i.e. a pistol). Fortunately, my great aunt (her sister) stopped her.

My grandmother raised 5 boys and one girl.  She was born during the Depression.  Grew up during the Depression and WWII.   Worked as a Domestic and a switch board operator and would eventually go to college, become a teacher and teach for 20 years.   

And she was there for everything for me.  She flew with my mom to Florida to see my graduate from College, graduate from Law School, and get married.  When I got my first job out of college, she gave me money so I could put the deposits on my first apartment.  She truly had my best interests at heart.

In 2014, she transcended to the realm of infinite greatness at the age of 88.   

So, in keeping with the spirit of Women’s History Month, I would like to honor this last day of Women’s History Month 2021 by honoring my grandmother:

MARY LOUISE BROWN OWENS