Veola was short in stature and rather plump and a mulatto…I and my siblings called her (our) “fat mama”…she rolled her eyes as she emmerged from the kitchen wearing a lively print dress and apron then walks between my grandfather and the television who was sitting in his easy chair smoking a cigar and dropping ashes on his shirt as he watched the baseball game…I, a child at that time, was looking at the floral wall paper on the living room walls and I remember the art work…she chastised him for wanting to eat food that was bad for his heart…his response was “I buy the food woman and you cook it!”…they baby-sat me often…she and I would watch her favorite television shows…there were always magazines lying around…I watched as she applied skin cream to her face…she made her own bread, those yeasty dinner rolls, biscuits, cornbread, and the best cakes and pies…she had a wicked sense of humor…chose and purchased my school clothes and shoes every year…she and I would take the train to see our relatives in California and was gone so long I had to be enrolled in a Catholic school…a community activist and builder of our neighborhood…and always supported me in my pursuit of an education…

Sophie, a woman of sturdy build, was still married and living with my grandfather when I came into the world…she dipped snuff, I remember the bottle it came in…often wore a scarf around her head…would cook and take care of us while our parents worked…when my grandfather left her for another woman, she went into a depression that lasted until she died…she moved in with us at a time when my parents had divorced…her world was small and simple…neither outgoing nor very social, she would sit by the window for hours on end…I miss her hot water cornbread…

Claudine was a slim and stylish woman…having worked in retail as a salesperson and model at our local clothing store, she was always dressed impeccably and wore bright colors…her hat, purse and shoe collections outlasted her…I wish I had her rhinestone embellished “cat woman” eyeglass frames…quite self-absorbed having been raised as an only child by default because her brother had drowned when they were children…she said her dad was a bootlegger…if there is a party or event she was there if possible…I inherited my love of live music from her because I was her concert date…

When I look at my hands or see my face in a mirror, I see all three of these women.

Charley Mitcherson