Make Someone Special

A doll Grandma Hart gave to me


Grandma's St. Louis Rent Receipt


Eight of Grandma's children

Grandma Estella Inez Hart was a wonderful, strong willed and inspirational woman. I only knew the old part of her but Momma, long after Grandma's passing, began to shed some light on this unique woman's life. Grandma was born into a very large family. Her Momma was a hard working farm wife and her Daddy was a part time farmer and part time preacher.

Great Grandpa Rhodes was a strict man who didn't believe women should be educated or self sufficient. He made my Grandma quit school in the third grade and put her to work as a field hand for other farms along with her brothers. Grandma didn't let that stop her love of books and slowly began a collection of any books people would graciously give her. In a small little cabin there wasn't any place to hide her precious collection so she hid them in a hollowed out tree. When ever she was finished working for the day and her own chores were done she would sneak off to the tree to read till the last rays of sunlight faded into the hills.

Grandpa Rhodes eventually caught her and burnt all of her books. As she watched the covers of those cherished books slowly curl up in black smoke and flames Grandma vowed to her self that someday she would have all the books she could read in a life time.

When times got tough for the family and food was scarce Grandpa would leave the house and travel to other farms taking his Bible. It would insure him a good meal with the right family. Sometimes he would be gone for weeks leaving the young boys to hunt and gather a small meal for the others.

Grandma soon became of age and married John Hart. A good looking young farmer with jet black hair. Together they raised fourteen children. Momma often told me that Grandma would leave the older girls in the house to cook and clean while she would plow the fields. She would come in at noon and breast feed the baby and go back to the fields and plow till dusk. Many hard years later she fell out of love with Grandpa Hart. When all the children were almost grown Grandma took her youngest girl (Momma) and caught the train from Vichy to St. Louis. She never looked back.

Life didn't get much easier for her and Momma but at least she was a free woman. She worked as a cleaning woman and even once took a job in a "Speak Easy" making illegal gin. Grandma Hart even after all those births was a beautiful woman and soon as many "suitors" began to call on her. Momma said many bankers and business men began to court her. Grandma would never be another mans wife again. She never wanted to give up her freedom to be a free thinking woman. When Momma met daddy and wanted to get married Grandma was totally against it and refused to go to the wedding. I'm sure Momma kept looking at the door at the justice of the peace where they were married, just hoping Grandma would show up. She didn't but soon came to love my father as her own son. He cherished her as well.

Daddy gave Grandma a little mobile home right next to our house and that is where I came in. I practically lived with her. With a house full of brothers and sisters I often felt neglected and invisible. I never felt special except for Grandma. She told me stories and read to me every night. She told me I was special and let me sleep on her goose down feather mattress. I got to wear one of her silk night gowns and I remember listening to her prayers that sometimes went on for hours. She kept ten clocks in her house and the gentle sound of the ticking and her whispered prayers would lull me to sleep. There was no one like my Grandma. She had crinkling eyes and the softest skin. When company was coming she sat in her old white rocker and put her makeup on. I can still remember the red lip stick she wore and the worn but colorful long dresses. You never saw her that she didn't have a book on her lap. Reading was her passion. Her life was full of hardships and hard work but she never let that dampen her enthusiasm for life. When she developed cancer for the second time in her eighties, Momma took care of her and all of us kids. It soon became to much for Momma and Grandma called her other older daughters and went to live out the rest of her life with them. She passed away two weeks after she left our house. There will never be another woman like her. Her spirit would never be dampened. I cherish my memories of her and the way she made me feel so special. She saw something in me and spoke to that part of me that needed to feel special. We were kindred spirits and I will never forget her. So look around at your friends and family. Is there someone that could use a little "special" treatment? It only takes a little time on your part to make someone feel "special". I can only hope that someone comes into your life to make you feel as special as my Grandma did for me. Aunt Onie
A speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition (1920–1932, longer in some states). During this time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcohol was illegal.

The term may have come from a patron’s manner of ordering an alcoholic drink without raising suspicion—bartenders would tell patrons to be quiet and “speak easy,"[1] or from the ability of patrons to talk of alcohol without having to fear that government officials would be listening.