Growing up in Pensacola, Fl with my "big" sister! haha (Karla is only 4'10") fond memories of school, friends (some are now facebook friends after all these years!), frequent visits to the beach, Sunday afternoons with MeMomma (our paternal grandmother) after attending Mass, a stop by the bakery and home to her house for lunch in the Historical section. Month in the summer was spent on the Bay side at the beach (Daddy was an architect and would drive into Pensacola each day)
This pic is probably about 1960 in front of our home in Pensacola, I'm the taller one on the right.
Alas, all this would change in 1964, my parents divorced and Karla and I moved to Alabama to live with Ma, our maternal grandmother. We had spent many lengthy summer visits with Ma in prior years.
Ma (a very simple woman with a heart full of love, former sharecropper) and MeMomma (a lady of stature in Pensacola that grown up in a totally different environment, yet also a heart full of love) were total opposites although their backgrounds never clouded the love shown to us through the years.
However, those four little rooms housed more love and guidance than I could ever imagine...quite a culture shock for two teenage girls but we survived and went on to become mothers, grandmothers, & now I am a great-grandmother...and learn to be happy!
One of my favorite memories of Ma is my birthday! All through the years until her passing in '88, she gave me $5 each birthday to buy a purse! I love purses, even since I was a toddler! Daddy remarked in my baby book when I was 1-1/2, 9PM: "Here's Paula, still carrying that damn purse!"
Lots of turns and detours in the pathway, but I know MeMomma and Ma would be proud of the granddaughter they influenced in so many ways! I love you both and thanks for the memories!
