The superpowers of an apron

By JANET HART LEONARD
From the Hart

It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child. I’m not sure about that, but I will tell you that for me, it took two families.

When I was adopted by my mom and dad, they brought me into the Catron and Hart families.

My mother had nine sisters and one lone brother. My dad had four sisters. Let’s just say all my aunts “mothered” me and taught me well. The kitchen was always a classroom.

My mom, grandmothers and aunts all wore aprons. I believe those aprons had superpowers. When they put them on there was no stopping them.

They all found themselves in their kitchens at the crack of dawn. A breakfast was cooked that was fit for royalty – or maybe just a multitude of hungry kids. They baked, cooked and created meals from scratch … never measuring a thing. Have you ever had Chocolate Gravy? Talk about YUM! I still make it. (Chuck has yet to try it.)

Lard and bacon grease were two of their secret ingredients. If you haven’t had green beans, fresh from the garden, cooked with bacon grease, well you have missed out on a true southern delicacy. There’s something about bacon grease! And of course, it is saved in a special container. It was a sin to throw it out.

My Grandma Catron made biscuits or cornbread every day, sometimes both. The biscuits were gently turned over and over until just the right consistency of lard and flour was made. ME? I rely on the skills of Grandma Pillsbury and her cute dough boy. Cornbread was never sweet and was always made in a cast iron skillet. My mom made it on the stove while my grandma baked it in the oven. Funny how everyone has their own “perfect” recipe.

Each of my aunts believed that cast iron skillets made everything taste better. I believe that as well. Cornbread and fried potatoes are still two of my favorites to make in them. Fried potatoes and scrambled eggs … oh my! And for supper!

I know my “healthy” friends who are reading this are having a come apart. My family is known for longevity. Most have lived well into their eighties and nineties. I think it’s the bacon grease.

On many a Sunday afternoon, we would make the drive to Muncie for Sunday Dinner. My Grandma and Grandpa Catron lived in a four-room house, yet somehow squeezed aunts, uncles, and a gazillion cousins into it. I ate most of those dinners while sitting on one of the two beds. The men ate first, then us kids and later the women folk. It was just the way it was back then.

The dishes were done by the older girl cousins. I’m glad I never was one of the “older” ones. That’s a lot of dishes. Being together made every chore more fun … well, maybe not “fun” but less work. We kids always ate out of aluminum TV dinner containers. Yes, they were washed to use again. Funny thing is that I never knew anyone who ate TV dinners. And how did they get that name? Google it … it’s interesting.

There were over a dozen cousins near my age. Kathy, Pam, Betty, Pat, Ellen, Rose, Sondra, Wanda, Debbie and Susan, to name a few. We still group chat on Facebook daily. On Sundays, I didn’t feel like an only child.

I remember always buying stick candy at Christmas for my Grandpa John Keen Jeremiah Catron. Sitting at the dinner table he would drink his coffee from a saucer. When he sat in the living room he drank from a cup. He smoked after he rolled the tobacco into cigarette papers. Oh, the things you remember. He always walked to work or took the bus. This was after he moved from Kentucky where he walked to the coal mines or sawmill. He worked hard to feed and provide for 11 kids.

We would buy Grandma Eliza Elandor Catron a package of tobacco. Yes, she chewed. Both my grandmothers did so. Not one of my aunts ever chewed. We knew to watch for the cans that she sat around to spit in so we didn’t kick them over. Oh, my goodness!

Let me tell you one more thing I remember: there was so much love in that little house that I still feel it today. I think that love was held in the aprons that my mom, grandma and aunts wore.

I still have some of those aprons packed away. I may just pull one out to wear. I know I will feel the love it still holds.

Yes, it took a family to raise me, and I still feel their love. If I need to be reminded, I call my Aunt Nell or Aunt Mac. They will remind me and yes, they will tell me what they think I should be doing … just like my mom did. I don’t even have to ask what they think … just like I never had to with my mom.

I am blessed and I will always cherish those aprons and the women who wore them.

90 years young

Let me tell you about my Aunt Nettie (aka Nell).

SHE …

• Has rocked many a baby, seven children, and too-many-to-count grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She calmed their crying as well as their fears.
• Has wiped the tears of so many who were hurting, yet too many to count … tears of her own.
• Has prayed for strength and wisdom and courage to face many battles. She knows that with each Goliath, God will give her the stones she needs to fight whatever “he, the giant,” looks like.
• Has watched her hands weaken with age but knows they still have power when folded in prayer.
• Knows the wrinkles on her face are from not only great sorrow but much laughter. She’s embraced both with dignity and a few shenanigans.
• Has embraced life with adventure wrapped in love. She gave strength to those whose necks she hugged, and now they give strength to her.
• Keeps moving when her legs tell her she can’t. She tells them … “Watch me.”
• Knows the power of prayer because she has a history with God and has seen her prayers answered, not always in the way she wanted, but in the way that He deemed best … and she was okay with that. She understands the power of having faith.
• Has embraced life with both laughter and tears, knowing both were part of God’s plan. A life well-lived would bring both and God would be there, no matter the circumstances.
• Came from a family of 11: 10 girls and one boy. Being poor as a child in the hills of Kentucky was a way of life but did not lessen her value.

As Proverbs 31 (NLT) describes a wife of noble character, so it describes “her.”

Verses 10 to 12: Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

Verse 15: She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work.

Verse 17: She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.

Verse 20: She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

Verse 22: She makes her own bedspreads. (YES!)

Verses 25 and 26: She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

Verses 28 and 29: Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

You see, she is a strong Catron daughter … my aunt … my mother’s sister.

Happy 90^th, Aunt Nell!

Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.