A Goddess Among Us
Blanche Ada Smith
Blanche Ada Smith was born December 19, 1910. Her mother passed away in 1919. She was boarded out for awhile and then dropped out of school with a 5TH grade education to attend to her family.
At 18 yrs of age, she married my father. Her first child was stillborn in 1928. She had five more children before the end of 1940. Johnny, born in 1939, passed away in 1942.
The children had come down with cholera infantum and Mom had used an herb (a weed I have yet to find an equivalent to) called twin sisters. She used it for my older brother and sisters, but ran out when Johnny got sick. She always said she could have saved him if she had had more.
My mother was
afflicted with Limb-Girdle Dystrophy.
That is a form of muscular dystrophy that afflicts the shoulders and
hips. By age 30, she could no longer walk, or lift her shoulders or hips. My twin sisters were born in 1943 and I was
born in 1951. When my father passed away
in 1952, my mother was left with five under-aged children and no money. My older brother had been sent to
Since she owned
the farm we lived on, she was ineligible for any kind of welfare. She refused to sell her land; it was our
heritage. With Mom at the helm, we worked to the ability we grew into. She taught us to plant, hoe, harvest and
preserve anything and everything we could find to get us through. It sure helped that we were blessed with a
big
She used a treadle sewing machine to make our clothing, because she could walk her hands across the table and on go as slow as she needed to. She couldn’t knit, because the needles couldn’t get past the arms of her wheelchair; but she made the most beautiful crocheted pieces I’ve ever seen. I have only a couple of those, but I treasure them.
Even with only a fifth grade education, she was the smartest woman I have ever known. She read constantly, and often wrote poetry on the inside cover of her books. She had beautiful handwriting even though she would have to place her right wrist over her left and walk her left hand along the table as she wrote with her right hand.
She knew every weed on that farm and what to use it for. She had us gather shell-bark hickory, cherry bark and mullein leaves to make cough syrup. She had remedies for infection, diarrhea, and a large number of illnesses. Neighbors would come by for her advice; not just for healing, but for her wisdom.
With the complications from her illness, and her inability to get and exercise, she developed diabetes, high blood pressure and finally gangrene in her feet. When doctors told her she would have to have them amputated, she refused and proceeded to treat herself. Two months later, there was no sign of the gangrene. I wish I knew what she used. Then again, my greatest regret is that I didn’t pay attention and learn the things she knew.
This wise woman
managed to raise her children and see them all married. She swore she was going to live to see all of
us married with children. When I was
told I would never be able to have children, I guess she had other ideas. The gangrene had come back off and on over
the next seven years. Finally, in 1977,
at age 67, she succumbed to a coma that was a combination of diabetic and
gangrene shock. I heard my son’s
heartbeat for the first time on her birthday, and gave birth to him in
1979. I believe he is her final gift to
me.
My Mom
By Firefly
Copyright 2009
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