When my grandparents became elderly, they didn’t go to church anymore. My Grandpa had a hearing problem and was almost deaf, and Grandma couldn’t walk well enough to get up the church steps. The men in the church (mostly) would make a point to stop by Grandma and Grandpa’s house to greet them — especially Grandma. She was an outrageous and notorious flirt! Grandpa never minded though.

One Sunday, Daddy brought the church bulletin to their house and he dropped me off. Sitting inside their screened front porch, where I had happily shelled beans and peas with Grandma, she suddenly exclaimed, “Where are my Mens?” Grandma was Lumbee Native American and that was how she pronounced it. Soon, Grandma’s “Mens” began to show up one by one, and Grandma’s gold front tooth and her beautiful smile greeted each and every one with a hug, a kiss on the cheek and a flirtatious wink.

She was the happiest I’d ever seen and this remains a very precious memory.

Kathryn Ransom, Maxton, a member of Lumbee River EMC