Glenna Stearman Park
The devil made me do it.
Growing up with two Grandmas in the house gave me rich patterns for modeling some of my life. Grandma Stearman loved to cook Southern style, but she was especially good at fried chicken, potato salad, and peanut butter cookies. She also loved Yahtzee. We all shared kitchen cleanup duty with her and she would send the dishes back to my sink if they were not perfectly clean! Nevertheless, she was a cheerful spirit in the house.
Grandma Strickland lived with us the longest. She was serious about the Lord and made every effort to impart that feeling to us children. On Sunday, no dice games were allowed and we had to play Monopoly outside. I was not allowed to wear shorts EVER and had to wear girl clothes (dresses)on Sunday. No laundry, house cleaning or work was allowed on Sunday, except preparation for the large Sunday dinner after church. In high school I was allowed to do homework or reading. NEVER was I allowed to attend a movie on the Lord’s day, but we could watch Liberace on piano or the Ed Sullivan Show on our black and white TV.
Every night Grandma Strickland tucked my sister Guyna and me into bed. She said our prayers with us, or we would forget to do them. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Then I always asked Grandma if Jesus was going to come tonight. She constantly cautioned that we must be prepared every minute for the rapture. As soon as she turned out the lights and left the room, I added to my prayer. “God, don’t come tonight. We are all doing fine down here. Just stay in heaven a little bit longer.”
In spite of her strictness, Grandma Strickland was a great source for some of my fun. When she sang from her hymnal, I would get on the other side of the heater vent and howl like a cat! I seriously taxed her patience, and despite my nasty streak, I did love her.
I often remember having “talks with God” in order to live life the way I wanted rather than the way my grandmother wanted. Years later when I moved to Texas, I ran across a lot of people who lived like my grandmother would have loved.
