Living on Queen Street
by Lonnye Sue Pearson
I told my second husband shortly before we married that I was a queen in search of her queendom. He didn’t get it (that’s another story altogether), but he did get the royal boot.
Recently, I bought a piece of property with two houses on it. Appropriately, the property is on Queen Street. After all these years, I have found my domain.
My daughter, her husband and three children live in the “big house,” while I occupy the tiny, lower apartment of a two-story building “out back.” I haven’t lived in such close proximity to family since 1993. At any rate, I’ve discovered something about myself since moving.
My generation wrote the book on women’s liberation…freedom, equal rights, partnerships, etc. Women today should thank us for breaking the mold our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers had to endure. After all, without us, women would still be stuck at home wearing housedresses and aprons and baking cookies for the neighborhood kids. It was my generation that changed the status quo for women in America, that gave women a chance to succeed on their own, that gave women a voice. We are women; hear us ROAR.
Wait a minute! If I’m a product of the generation of women who made a commitment to elevate all sisters out of the pit of Hell, why do I expect certain considerations from my daughter or son-in-law?
Lately, I have discovered latent tendencies toward labeling chores as “men’s work” or “women’s work.” I know, unbelievable, but true. I swear I wasn’t always like this. I used to hang my own pictures, paint my own walls, refinish hardwood floors, repair leaky faucets, replace light switches, mow lawns, patch roofs, raise hogs, cut glass. I even baked bread from scratch, preserved fruits and vegetables, cooked meals, washed clothes, crocheted afghans, cross stitched, and remembered family members’ birthdays. I worked two jobs for many, many years.
However, recently, I have taken a different track…the proverbial “road not taken” previously…and…I think I like it. Why should I mow the lawn? My son-in-law lives forty feet away. Let him do it. Why should I fix the leaky faucet? Jeff can do it. Why should I climb a ladder to replace the cap on the chimney? Son-in-law!
His reward will be homemade bread, gourmet meals and free babysitting…when I feel like it.
Yes, life as a queen has its advantages. Now where did I put my scepter? I need the locks changed on the doors.
© Lonnye Sue Pearson, 2005
A Mississippi Delta native, Lonnye Sue Sims Pearson teaches English to eager eighth graders in Wayne County, North Carolina. Her work has been published at http://www.usadeepsouth.com/, where she is Associate Editor, as well as http://www.asouthernjournal.com/ and in the Mississippi magazine Tombigbee Country.
Three highly active grandchildren and a neurotic dachshund keep Ms. Pearson busy, but she is sporadically working on her first novel and a humorous cookbook.
Contact Ms. Pearson at deltamiss2002@yahoo.com.
http://www.queenpower.com/
disclaimer
I told my second husband shortly before we married that I was a queen in search of her queendom. He didn’t get it (that’s another story altogether), but he did get the royal boot.
Recently, I bought a piece of property with two houses on it. Appropriately, the property is on Queen Street. After all these years, I have found my domain.
My daughter, her husband and three children live in the “big house,” while I occupy the tiny, lower apartment of a two-story building “out back.” I haven’t lived in such close proximity to family since 1993. At any rate, I’ve discovered something about myself since moving.
My generation wrote the book on women’s liberation…freedom, equal rights, partnerships, etc. Women today should thank us for breaking the mold our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers had to endure. After all, without us, women would still be stuck at home wearing housedresses and aprons and baking cookies for the neighborhood kids. It was my generation that changed the status quo for women in America, that gave women a chance to succeed on their own, that gave women a voice. We are women; hear us ROAR.
Wait a minute! If I’m a product of the generation of women who made a commitment to elevate all sisters out of the pit of Hell, why do I expect certain considerations from my daughter or son-in-law?
Lately, I have discovered latent tendencies toward labeling chores as “men’s work” or “women’s work.” I know, unbelievable, but true. I swear I wasn’t always like this. I used to hang my own pictures, paint my own walls, refinish hardwood floors, repair leaky faucets, replace light switches, mow lawns, patch roofs, raise hogs, cut glass. I even baked bread from scratch, preserved fruits and vegetables, cooked meals, washed clothes, crocheted afghans, cross stitched, and remembered family members’ birthdays. I worked two jobs for many, many years.
However, recently, I have taken a different track…the proverbial “road not taken” previously…and…I think I like it. Why should I mow the lawn? My son-in-law lives forty feet away. Let him do it. Why should I fix the leaky faucet? Jeff can do it. Why should I climb a ladder to replace the cap on the chimney? Son-in-law!
His reward will be homemade bread, gourmet meals and free babysitting…when I feel like it.
Yes, life as a queen has its advantages. Now where did I put my scepter? I need the locks changed on the doors.
© Lonnye Sue Pearson, 2005
A Mississippi Delta native, Lonnye Sue Sims Pearson teaches English to eager eighth graders in Wayne County, North Carolina. Her work has been published at http://www.usadeepsouth.com/, where she is Associate Editor, as well as http://www.asouthernjournal.com/ and in the Mississippi magazine Tombigbee Country.
Three highly active grandchildren and a neurotic dachshund keep Ms. Pearson busy, but she is sporadically working on her first novel and a humorous cookbook.
Contact Ms. Pearson at deltamiss2002@yahoo.com.
http://www.queenpower.com/
disclaimer
posted by Allyn Evans at 7:49 AM
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