Mammy's Pin
The lady that wore this pin in her hair, more than 40 years ago, is someone that I never got to meet. She had been far removed from this world long before I came along. But she is a huge part of my life and the person I am and more importantly the person I am destined to be. Mammy is my great-grandmother.
Traditions and legacies are a part of every family. Some are rich and full of history, and others are quiet and less interesting. My family legacy, for the most part, is a bit obscure and unknown. There are no real stories of invention or evolution, no surprise or greatness to be noted. My great grandmother was orphaned at a young age after both parents died unexpectedly close together and she became dependent upon whoever could help to raise her. She married young, uneducated and penniless, and began to raise and culture a family in the mountains in a little place called Rock Creek. As time passed by there was no family heirlooms, fortunes, or inheritances to be passed on. Material possessions were humble to a family living each day desperately to survive the next. The floor of their cabin was made of dirt and my grandmother tells vividly how in the winter they'd wake up to a blanket of snow covering the inside of their home and if not for the hog that they shared space with they'd have surely frozen to death. It's not a tale of greatness or innovativeness but survival, and strength, and humility....those things make up the legacy of our family. Mammy's story isn't a feel-good rags to riches tale. She died as humbly as she was born.
I acquired this pin recently after the death of my great aunt. Her daughters graciously gave my grandmother some items belonging to Mammy that had been kept, and one of those items was a leather purse belonging to Mammy in the latter part of her life. Inside the purse was a coin purse with several barrettes and costume jewelry. It was an invaluable experience to look through the belongings of someone I never met but felt such a huge connection to. Each item in its unique simplicity created a rush of emotion that is almost unexplainable. My imagination was in overdrive trying to see this lady, my great-grandmother, as the person she was, shaped by unjust circumstances and a harsh life. I asked my grandmother for this particular hairpin to keep as my own to serve as a tangible reminder of the legacy I now realized that I was a part of. I guess most people would be ashamed to admit their legacy was one of generational poverty and tragedy but I'm quite proud of it.
Its monetary value is nothing, by most standards mere garbage. But to me, it's better than a family fortune because it symbolizes those things passed down to me from my grandmother that aren't material. This is a little piece of treasure to remind me of the wonderful place I come from. I can only imagine the sacrifices and struggles my great-grandmother had to endure raising her family in the mountains, working to keep a farm and serving as a midwife to the area so wrecked with poverty there was no other social class. Each time that I see this pin, I'm reminded of her struggle, and the struggles of my grandmother, and my own mother that have allowed me to have this chance at a better life than the one they lived and in turn I hope to give my child a better life and more opportunities than what was afforded to me. I hope more than that she finds humility and greatness in the person that she is because of the foundations laid before her by the precious, dedicated, devoted women in our family. The women who persevered through the most unfortunate of circumstances and leaned on their faith and their undeniable love for their families to keep going. A simple pin of rusted metal and plastic is all I have of my great-grandmother that I can lay hands on, but what's in my heart, the pieces that continue to push me through the hardest parts of life, belong to her too. That's a legacy worth sharing.
I acquired this pin recently after the death of my great aunt. Her daughters graciously gave my grandmother some items belonging to Mammy that had been kept, and one of those items was a leather purse belonging to Mammy in the latter part of her life. Inside the purse was a coin purse with several barrettes and costume jewelry. It was an invaluable experience to look through the belongings of someone I never met but felt such a huge connection to. Each item in its unique simplicity created a rush of emotion that is almost unexplainable. My imagination was in overdrive trying to see this lady, my great-grandmother, as the person she was, shaped by unjust circumstances and a harsh life. I asked my grandmother for this particular hairpin to keep as my own to serve as a tangible reminder of the legacy I now realized that I was a part of. I guess most people would be ashamed to admit their legacy was one of generational poverty and tragedy but I'm quite proud of it.
Its monetary value is nothing, by most standards mere garbage. But to me, it's better than a family fortune because it symbolizes those things passed down to me from my grandmother that aren't material. This is a little piece of treasure to remind me of the wonderful place I come from. I can only imagine the sacrifices and struggles my great-grandmother had to endure raising her family in the mountains, working to keep a farm and serving as a midwife to the area so wrecked with poverty there was no other social class. Each time that I see this pin, I'm reminded of her struggle, and the struggles of my grandmother, and my own mother that have allowed me to have this chance at a better life than the one they lived and in turn I hope to give my child a better life and more opportunities than what was afforded to me. I hope more than that she finds humility and greatness in the person that she is because of the foundations laid before her by the precious, dedicated, devoted women in our family. The women who persevered through the most unfortunate of circumstances and leaned on their faith and their undeniable love for their families to keep going. A simple pin of rusted metal and plastic is all I have of my great-grandmother that I can lay hands on, but what's in my heart, the pieces that continue to push me through the hardest parts of life, belong to her too. That's a legacy worth sharing.
