Edie Hand: Strength in Loneliness is Still Loneliness

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Send them to OurAmericanStories.com. They're some of our favorites. And you've heard from Edie Hand before on our show. Today you're going to hear a little bit about Edie's own life story. We love telling you stories of family, stories of mothers, and the importance they play in their children's lives for better and for worse.

Here's Edie with her own story. I recall a simpler time in my life in Burnout, Alabama. It was so small that we used to laugh and say we know burnout's burnt plum out. I remember going out back of the house and I would be making mud pies. My brothers would come up and I'll never forget how they said, so what are you cooking today, Edie? Or they called me Edith. And I said, I'm making a new mud pie.

You want to try it? I remember they sat down on the little pieces of wood on the rocks and they put that mud in their mouth. They got sick from eating that dirt and running to the running to the house to tell mother that I'd fed them mud pies.

It wasn't funny to my mother, but it was it was funny to me. It was those little things. I remember going to the barn with the boys and we saddle up our horses. We had two Shetland ponies and a quarter horse. It was a wonderful place to grow up. It was 40 acres of rolling hills. We had the garden with different chores to do.

The boys did more in the garden. I was more helping mother with laundry. My mother would always have us baked when we got off a school bus. I remember was baked sweet potatoes and chocolate doodad cookies.

She would want to hear about what we had done in school for the day. I remember we had a cold glass of milk with that. That was, it's just remembering home. That was home to me. And we all need some place we can call home, either physically or a place we can go back to in our mind.

And that is a place for me. And I think the barn, I used to think, this is the place. It was just simpler times, but it was the place of the most joy, I think, of feeling free and you could be anything you want to be. But the barn just spoke to me in a way of, I like the openness, I like the lofts, and you could dream. It was a place to dream.

You could look out through the holes, see the sky, or you could jump out of the barn and be in a pile of sawdust or hay. And we played kick the can relay runs that we would see how fast we were, you know, go from one tree to the next. It was just nothing big but those simple games that I cherish the most, that I would call, this is the place.

I think that place is where I found me. My mother Sue was a homemaker. When I was young, she just lived for her children. She loved to dress me up beautifully. I was her baby doll, and of course I was her first child.

And the boys always so handsome. Now she didn't come to the barn and do the things with us, but my grandmother Alice did. She was a tomboy, my grandmother was.

She could ride, she could milk cows, she could do anything. But my mother was the one that always had everything just right in the home, was always dressed perfect. My mother taught me about being proper, good manners. It was always important to be a lady. So I grew up with a lot of old school manners with her. She was always very proud of my accomplishments in life. I didn't get to be as close to her as I wanted to be, but she was closer to the boys. I think my mother was closer to the boys because they were more needy, and she would say, you're strong.

You're like mama, you're like Alice. You don't really need anybody, you just get out there and do it. But what I wish my mother had noticed was that I did need her. So I always just was strong, everybody said it, so I must be strong. I think it made me a loner.

It was a good quality, but I don't like being alone. My grandmother Alice, she said, please always love your mother. She loves you dearly. She just doesn't know how to connect to you. Your mother loves you.

And sometimes there's just no real explanation other than just the comment of it, because what people don't realize, I think, is that it is important to take the time to explain to someone and talk to them. Don't hide behind feelings. I think I suppressed mine through the years, to be almost 70 years old, and to see that the little girl in me still wants to go to the place. Since the barn is gone, my grandmother's gone, and most of my family is gone. There is no place that I feel quite at home anymore, but I'm looking for it. I'm going to find another place, because my grandmother said I could do hard things, and I will, and I do. And great job on the production by Robbie, and thanks for just a beautiful piece of storytelling from Edie Hand. And that barn is a place to dream. And at 70 years old, she's looking for that place.

She suppressed her feelings, and she was the strong one, and it made her a loner. Edie Hand's story, here on Our American Story. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. We're going to be sharing our stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now, and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American Stories coming.

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There's a better way to fly private. Passing the ball is fun. The Frito-Lay Pass the Ball Challenge is more fun. Join Frito-Lay, the official USA snack of the FIFA World Cup 2022, for their Pass the Ball Challenge. Add your picture to the Golden World Soccer Ball and be part of a one-of-a-kind experience. Then, pass the ball to friends for a chance to score custom swag. Grab a specially marked bag of Lay's, Cheetos, or Doritos and scan the QR code, or visit FritoLayScore.com.