The story is the memoir of the author's Mama, a true southern lady, well educated, with a passion for sterling silver and a tendency to shop at Dollar Stores. It is a comical, sometimes tragic story of this strong woman who conquered an addiction to alcohol that almost took her life and everything she had to rise again for second act.
This a story of growing up with an alcoholic who never lost her deep southern roots. It is the tale of a lady who loved and lost but, against all odds, rose again for a second act and the story of the author's relationship with her mother through it all. Some readers may call this Southern Lit with the eccentric characters, southern ways, and a bit of sibling rivalry. Others may see the compelling story of the relationship between a mother and daughter over a span of more than fifty years. Anyone growing up southern can relate to parts of this story. It is an amusing yet, at times, heart wrenching tale of a well educated proper southern woman who survives to have another chance at life and takes nothing for granted.
What can you say about a woman who valued her sterling silver, her family, and her bridge clubs but never saw a Dollar Store she didn't like. The narrative covers more than fifty years of the her life. The story shows that no one's life follows a straight path and we should never give up on someone we love. She was a survivor and after she sobered up, she appreciated every day she lived. As a young newly wed, fresh out of Wake Forest, she was a social worker trying to help the children and elderly on the sea islands off South Carolina. After she got her life straight she continued that work, not professionally, but on a personal level helping addicts get sober and aiding the elderly who needed assistance and companionship.
Once she got her life straight, she was never bitter about what she had lost. Rather, she moved forward with a lust for life, realizing every day was a gift. She was talented and smart, but she was also quirky and sometimes a little difficult. She was truly a character, well loved by her family and friends, but a force to be reckoned with none the less - all four feet eight inches of her.
