This week at WordWranglers, we're talking fave heroines.
For any of you who follow this blog, you know I prefer western heroines. (This is my sister Suzan pictured here).
I've said until I can see you all rolling your eyes and stifling a yawn.
I don't blame you. I tend to repeat myself. LOL
But I truly do admire the western woman. The pioneer woman. I wish I could post a picture of my grandmother here. But I don't have any pics of her on digital. By the time I got my digital camera, she had Alzheimers, and she didn't like to be photographed any longer.
My grandmother had a hard life. She stayed home with her own mother, who was ill, until she was in her early thirties. In her time, she was an old maid. But she did marry and had four children. She was a farm life with all the entails. Lambing sheep, canning fruit, raising kids. She was the best cook I ever met. You never left her table hungry. She could make a meal out of flour and water. I'm not kidding.
She was uncommonly strong, physically. Probably all those years of hard work built her muscles. When she was in her eighties, I would go over to help her mow her lawn, it was more than two acres, she would insist on doing every other pass with the mower herself.
My dad often talks about how Grandma herded sheep on foot. They walked for hundreds of miles to and from summer pasture. She had a huge garden that she canned the most amazing pickles and beets from.
I'm not drawing the most accurate picture of her. There aren't enough words to dexcribe my grandmother, Margaret Brock Linscott. She died four years ago this August, and I miss her terribly.
One of the ways I keep her alive is by using little pieces of her in my stories. My hero's mother in The Cowboy's Baby cooks like Grandma did. Small mannerisms or saying she used also pop up from time to time. In Branded, Cord's friend Millie shoots a shotgun to break up a fight. I'm not saying Grandma did that, but she could have.
I think men and women all over the world have parents and grandparents like my Grandma Linscott, but I'm lucky enough to be able to draw on her memory for heroines in my books.
Your grandmother sounds like an amazing woman! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteGood post, D'Ann. I see echoes your grandmother in mine. She was a farmer who would get out there and, at eighty years of age, drive the tractor. Gardening, mowing,and cooking were all a way of life for her.
ReplyDeleteYour grandmother sounds amazing, D'Ann! I'm glad you keep her memory alive in your books!!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, and aren't we all grateful for our grandmas?
ReplyDeleteLoved your post. I feel like a baby now for complaining about some of my perceived hardships.
ReplyDeleteAlso love the view behind your sister. Beautiful!
Great post D'Ann. My grandma is still alive but lives in Ohio. I miss her cooking like crazy. She never measured anything. She always said a good cook doesn't have to.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandma Walter was an amazing woman, too. She grew up on a farm and became a farmer's wife, and ran the farm long after my granddad passed on. She was also an amazing storyteller...despite the only book she EVER read being the Bible. I know this is where my love for telling stories comes from....I miss her everyday. Great post.
ReplyDeleteYour grandma sounds like my mom when they both were healthy. Garden, yardwork (& we ain't talkin' 6x9's either), raise chickens & livestock. Those are the women who settled our nation. I don't think they spilled a tear for a hang nail. Thanks for posting this. I have a whole new appreciation for your character Millie now.
ReplyDeleteYour grandmother sounds amazing. My great-great aunt Marge was like her. She lived to be 95 independently until the end. In fact, the week before she was diagnosed with liver cancer, she raked her half-acre and hauled the clippings to the empty lot across the road. And she never bought a washer and dryer, preferring her ringer-washer and lines.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how the women of the past forged this country? Thy might fit into the category of unsung heroines. Thanks for sharing your story. I wrote a western but it turned episodic was my second attempt at writing lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tribute to your grandmother. Both of my biological grandmothers were dead before I was born. I never really knew the one living granddad and his new wife. In fact, I can only remember seeing him twice. Once at his house and the other in a casket. I can't ever remember him speaking to me. It is so good to have such wonderful memories and your love comes through in every word.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky you had an awesome grandma. I'm not saying mine were awful, just unyielding in their expectations. Children were to be seen, not heard! Girls were to be properly dressed without anything like dirt or sweat from playing allowed to mar the image. But, both liked to read and I have fond memories of time spent reading childrens' books with each of them.
ReplyDeleteMy fav heroine is Pearl in Caroline Clemmons' The Most Unsuitable Bride. She works so hard to help others, all the time thinking she's unworthy, until she realizes it's her loving heart that matters, not her questionable appearance. The questionable appearance is her perception, not her friends' or her hero's.
Have a great week.
It is nice that she still lives on in you....
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