There are two skills I proudly learned from the three generations of women who preceded me, the art of quick-wit and the timeless art of sewing. My great-grandmother was the most entertaining woman I’d ever met. Kind, caring, feisty, and funny, she’d wake up, step down from her waist-high bed, do some overdramatized calisthenic exercises to make us laugh, then make breakfast from scratch. My great-grandmother’s sewing machine is still in the family and is proof that she was in far better shape than I, because that jawn is heavy! Her machine’s foot pedal is the size of my laptop. I remember her stories of working in the fields and being responsible for all the laundry. Her wardrobe was handmade and she later used that