Two-Egg Sacks Within Hollerin' Distance

Many of my favorite memories of growing up involve my Grandmother or Granddaddy, who lived within walking distance.  Actually, they lived within "hollerin' distance" (which is always within walking distance, but often a bit closer) because we could shout loud enough to say hello across the field that separated our two houses.  Mind you, this was in the 50's and 60's, before the age of cellphones (or even telephones for that matter, during some of that time).  

We all have those moments during childhood that we mark as that time when "we're grown up now"... well, not grown up, as in adult, but not a "baby" anymore.  One of those moments for us kids was when Mom didn't have to pin a note to our shirt when she wanted us to go to Grandmother's and "borrow" something for her (2 eggs or a stick of butter for a recipe... white thread because she ran out... those sorts of things).  We'd be so afraid that we would forget and have the dreaded pinned note stuck on us again that we'd often sing a song all the way from our house to Grandmother's... some little sing-song type ditty that we'd make up on the spot, just to remember what we came for.  At first, the rule was we had to walk across the field.  As we became older, we were allowed to walk along the red clay gravel/dirt road that ran by our houses at that time.  

The borrowing of two eggs became such a common thing, that Grandmother, who was always kidding around and laughing about something, invented the "Two-Egg Sack".  Well, invented might be stretching the idea a little far... she renamed the very small paper bag that you'd get at the store sometimes (smaller than today's lunch bags).  Forever after that, it was called a Two-Egg Sack.  Why?  Because it held 2 eggs just perfectly without them having to stack on top of each other.  

Grandmother was what we always referred to as a "cat bird", meaning she was always up to some sort of mischief to keep life interesting... and was always finding something to laugh about, or kid around about.  Her joy for life and the people in it were never-ending and infectious.  She infected all of her grandchildren with that love of laughter, and taught each of us that love and laughter would get us through even the hardest of times.  She was, far and away, one of my favorite people to be around.  

She was "crafty", too... as in arts and crafts.  She knew how to knit, crochet, do all sorts of thread and needlework, and created all sorts of handicrafts all the time.  She painted in oils, sewed everything from clothes to drapes to anything she needed from cloth.  She knew how to cane a chair seat, how to create a quilt or rug from nothing but cast off old clothing ready for making rags out of (after you cut off the buttons and saved them, of course).  She grew up in the era where you made whatever you needed or you didn't have it.  So when we went to visit, she always had something interesting going on that we could learn if we wanted to... and I often wanted to.  

There's a poem that was read at Grandmother's funeral when she left us many years ago, that I've always felt described her well.  It's called "The Bridge Builder", by Will Allen Dromgoole.  The poem described an elderly man that takes the time to build a bridge across a chasm after he's already crossed it, not for himself, but for future generations.  Grandmother was a bridge builder... always leading us in ways that would serve us all our lives, whether it was showing us how we could make something on our own instead of buying something similar (but often of lesser quality), or whether it was teaching us some of life's lessons through her kind wisdom and gift of laughter.  I was blessed to have had her as such an integral part of my formative years.  

So, next time you come across a "Two-Egg Sack" (yes, they still exist), remember that it's not what a thing is that's important... it's all in how you look at it.  

And remember to laugh!!!!

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  
                                                                        ~ e.e. cummings ~

Two-Egg Sack:  A paper bag small enough to hold two eggs 

on the bottom without the eggs stacking up on top of each other.