Comments

Author Penny Richards & Grandma Lang — 17 Comments

  1. I truly think she might not ask but she would wonder why we complain
    about how hard it is. How well we would act if we had a power outage or our water got frozen.
    I had relatives who traveled the Oregon Trail……
    God bless you as you continue to write
    Have a terrific day
    Chris Granville
    granvilleATfrontiernetDOTnet

  2. Penny took me back to my own grandmothers and their great influence on me. One left New York state by herself around 1890 to travel to Europe to study classical piano. The other was a lifelong student of literature and current events, despite being limited by the opportunities available to women in those days. Both were storytellers, and I credit them with my love of books and my own storytelling career. Like Penny’s grandmother, women in those days often had to perform tasks from which most modern females would shrink, and their patience, perseverance, and reliance on faith are laudable. I feel blessed to be the descendant of such strong women.

  3. I”s been fun sharing some of my heritage with you all, Danie. Writing about Grandma Long (it is Long, by the way) really made me wish I could sit down and have a talk with her or maybe a cup of her wonderful sassafras tea. She could tell us a lot about surviving, and I don’t know if she’d have had a lot of patience with our “whining.” She was definitely no-nonsense. As my grandpa told my son when he was little and didn’t eat his egg, “You’d better eat it now, sonny, or Granny’ll make you eat it at lunch.” Thanks to everyone for their comments and imput. I’m so glad to have met you all as well, and hope my books don’t disappoint. Blessings to you all.
    Penny

    Penny

  4. I certainly couldn’t do all that, Paula. She did pass down a lot of things to her girls, though, so I did learn canning and some other things from my mother. I’m passing some of it down to my daughter, who is very big into natural healing. I sometimes think that’s from Grandma.

  5. I think you’re right, Brittany, and she would also tell us to take care of the world around us, not to exploit it for selfish reasons and not to be wasteful. Did I mention that she also made huge cinnamon rolls and cookies the size of saucers? (at least they looked that big when I was little!) LOL

  6. You’re right, Jenny. I have been very blessed, and the older I get the more I realize it. When I first started writing, I let the whole thing obsess me for several years, but eventually I burned out and even became somewhat bitter. I worry now that I let too many really important things go undone. Hopefully, I’m older and wiser now, and believe my relationship with God is stronger. I do try to live every day with an appreciation of my place in the universe, and also my responsibilities to God as well as those around me. One of my favorite scriptures is “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

  7. Thanks, Alisha,

    Yes, she would and did live off the land in many ways. She even knew where ginseng grew, but wouldn’t tell, because she didn’t want the woods “raped” by outsiders. The University of Illinois offered to buy some of her artifacts, but she wouldn’t sell them, and wouldn’t tell them where an Indian mound was. All this makes me think she was always very aware of the world around her, or she wouldn’t have been as smart as she was about the “workings” of things.

  8. You’re right, Donna. Sometimes I think we have it too easy, and that makes us lazy in so many ways. Because of our “affluence” and many blessings in this country, too many of our children haven’t been taught a good work ethic, and far too many think the world owes them. So sad.

  9. I think she would ask, what are you all complaining about? Everyone always says they are so busy and tired when we have it so much easier than our grandparents ever did. We have all of the “modern conveniences” they could never have dreamed of.

  10. What a strong remarkable woman! I believe she would tell us to look around us and ask what we see. She would ask us why spend so much money on things so exspensive and not important. I would hope she would tell us how to live off the land (something my husbands talks about a lot lol).
    I wish we had more women like her. I know they are probably rolling in their graves of they knew ehat a lot of women were like. Ex: clothes (or I should say lack of clothes).

    Thanks for sharing this great story with us. May god bless you and yours.
    Alisha

  11. You are so blessed and you need to work hard to enjoy the beauty around you! I’d have loved to hear her stories. Thank you for sharing her with us.
    jennydtipton at gmail dot com

  12. What a great write up about your grandmother.

    What do I think she would say to women nowadays? I am thinking she might say, “Slow down and see the world around you.” Sounds like she was a busy lady, but it was all geared around the land and family, sharing her knowledge of things with her grandchildren.

    Thanks for a chance to win your book. The heroine sounds really special.
    Brittany McEuen
    kbmceuen(at)yahoo(dot)com

  13. Hi Penny, I would say she indeed was a strong woman, I don’t think I could have done a smidgen of that and been any good at it. I love to read stories of women like this, you could write a book about her for sure.
    I would like to read your book in Wolf Creek, thanks for sharing

    Paula O

  14. I think if Grandma Lang was still alive I think that she would give us some tips of how too servive in today’s world. Penny It has been such a joy getting to know you and also your grandma and grandpa too.
    Lyn thanks for doing the this. It’s fun. Getting to know new authors.
    I love to find new authors.

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