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DESCRIPTION
During an afternoon at tea while telling stories of their grandchildren (“Grands” as they call them), four grandmothers begin to consider their potential for positive impact on future generations.
The stories, along with some artwork supplies by the Grands themselves, provides great pride, hours of conversation as well as an opportunity for the Graying Grannies to influence the current culture in which they find themselves.
Jean Hedrick has 8 grandchildren, who are the delight of her life and have provided all of the stories and anecdotes for her writing. She has a Master’s Degree in Reading and has taught in Christian schools in Whittier, CA, until retiring to travel with her husband.
The Biola University Education Department sought her out to teach in their graduate department where she taught for several years. Together with her husband of 48 years, they have visited and worked in over 50 countries.
Jean has been a guest lecturer in the U.S as well as abroad. She has published articles in the Brethren Herald, and later established a monthly contribution to the newsletter titled “Monthly Musings.”
A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native of California, she first came to Whittier in 1945 and finds a natural outlet in writing of her experiences in teaching, travel, and bonding with others in the Red Hat Society. She is Queen of Chapter 703, “The RH Society GALS (Get A Life, Sister).”
EXCERPT PREVIEW
The Legacy of the “Graying Grannies”
They had been friends since childhood, but the fact that their lives had taken such different paths only enhanced the bond among them. The saying that old friends are pure gold had real meaning as these four friends anticipated a stimulating afternoon. Whittier had been a small town when their families moved there in the mid ‘40’s. Small businesses were flourishing. Young men were coming home from military service, and communities of new homes were replacing large orange groves. Whittier was growing. Today Nancy and Barbara, who still lived in town, were meeting Judy and Marilyn. They treasured these times because Marilyn traveled regularly to the former Soviet Union and brought back the most interesting stories, but their grandchildren stories had become the most anticipated and seemed to tumble out like pebbles in a brook.
A small tea parlor on Greenleaf Avenue near the corner of Hadley St. was a favorite gathering place. Barbara had made reservations at Tea For Thee located in a quaint store that had once been a fine home. The enclosed patio with vine-covered walls helped maintain the ambience of a Quaker garden, which bespoke the origins of the town. When they first heard of the Red Hat Society, they had decided to become a chapter of their own calling it “The Graying Grannies.” They declared each member to be a Queen, and planned events in turn. Today they were all decked out in their purple outfits, large fancy red hats, and long satin gloves.
After being seated at a small round table outside under a large carrot-wood tree on this rather warm April day, they ordered their favorite Peach Tea and waited for the sandwiches to arrive. “Tell us about your last trip, Marilyn,” urged Nancy.
“That can wait. I want to hear your Grandma stories!” answered Marilyn. “It’s been several months since we’ve been together, and I so anticipate your stories after coming home from the stark Eastern European countries,” she continued.
“Are you sure you enjoy all those trips?” her friends asked, remembering previous stories of the facilities in Siberia and northeastern China with inconsistent electricity and sometimes nonexistent hot water. “Absolutely! It’s the people that make it so enjoyable. Their excitement to visit with Westerners is worth all the inconveniences we encounter. They are the most warm-hearted, interesting people, and we just love them. But they do live in difficult circumstances. This is like another world to me today,” Marilyn said as she gazed slowly around her and drank in the beautiful surroundings. “With these purple tablecloths, it looks like they knew we were coming.”
