Prose: Leona and Superstitutions

“Oh Lawd, don’t leave that hat on the bed!”, my mother-in-law wailed in her high-pitched southern drawl. “That is the worst luck in the world”. Her voice usually had a tinge of helplessness to it, a Real Southern Belle Voice.

She never flew in an airplane her entire life and most vehemently refused to ride in elevators……..fear of heights and claustrophobia drove her life. If she ever rode in a car at high altitude, especially if cliffs were around, she would get down in the floor of the vehicle. Mostly a delight and joy to be with, there were also dreaded times of her fears and depression. Her Spring Blues, as we called them.

Leona was a natural comedian and clown, being the youngest daughter of four girls and one younger brother. Her father was killed when she was quite young, leaving her mother to raise 5 children alone. A mysterious murder there doesn’t seem to be much knowledge about. There is a picture of him holding a cotton picker he had invented. Her superstitions were greatly formed and nurtured at a young age by a black mammy who helped with the children. She slept with her mother until she married at 28. Adjusting to her marriage was a very new and different time for Leona. There were many tearful times interspersed with much humor and hilarious antics.

Her husband, Bill Sr., would remark as she slept with panties on her head to keep her hairdo intact, “I never knew which end was up.”



By Patricia