Young'

We’ve all had someone throughout our childhood who has help mold us into the person that we are today. I have been blessed with a large number of family and friends who are strong- willed and very determined people.

Back in the day, when you did something wrong, an adult would grab a switch from a tree. Sometimes you even had to go get it for them, and then get hit with it. That was a time of both good and bad. It was also a time when someone's word meant something. A lot of things have changed since then.

The person that stands out most to me is my Aunt Bea. Her real name was Beatrice, but we all called her Aunt Bea. Whenever I was around her she would say, “Young’n, you’re my shadow.” She was the world’s best cook to me. There would be fresh eggs she got out of the hen house and sausage in the morning with those big fresh tomatoes from her garden. She would always be in her garden either weeding or gathering what was ready to be eaten.

We use to pack a bunch of food and go to the forest preserve by her house. There we would play ball and that’s where she taught me how to fish. I knew then, when I was little, that there was nothing that my Aunt Bea could not do. She was a strong woman who could do anything. She had the energy of ten people, and she worked from sun up to sun down.

My Aunt Bea was born in 1918. She has been deceased for sometime now. I can still hear her laugh. The smell of eggs and the taste of cornbread and when a see a corn stalk, they all remind me of her. I was her “young’n” and she was my mentor.

We all have a limited time on earth; so don’t put anything off. If I had my way, I’d be sitting by the water with our fishing poles, eating one of those special lunches that she made. And I would listen to her laugh again.

I know she’s smiling down at me; as I look up and smile at her.