© 2019 Barbara Grace Lake

She was a lady, every inch
No, not the kind that puts on airs
A kind with gentle flowering
That only comes from deep inside
She cared for all, her family most
Twas almost physical that love
A caring felt, responded to
By every person touched by her.

Her early home rough pioneered
But as first trains were coming through
My Nana queried Harvey Girls
Her love innate, her taste self taught
They saw “a lady in the rough”
Then taught her how a table’s set
Included manners, courtesy
And very well she learned these skills

So all things lovely Harvey taught
Became ingrained into her being
Integral to this prairie girl
Who then morphed into womanhood
A woman all who met her said
“A lady truly raised refined
With beauty, rarity of grace “
A woman of the plains transformed

And rarer still, she’d not despise
Those rural farmholds whence she’d come
She loved her parents till the end
They taught her beauty’s found inside
A home kept well, if rich or poor,
Would never cause its owner shame
Life lessons that her daughters gained
And passed along to children theirs

Where seeds she planted gardens bloomed
For all she loved, loved in return
When Delbert died, My Uncle Ted,
A seaman rough, observed her heart
He chastely loved, oft visited
Milkshake in hand along with flowers
When talking later, Ted observed
Your Nana’s real, a lady real

So was she human, I’d say yes
For several years I lived with her
Her perfect world was never quite
Still woman spirited, for proof:
When spouse demanded meals be hot
My Nana served him from the pot
I never saw her laugh out loud
Sly smirk was all from his burnt tongue

Since women drivers then were rare
Males of the species felt the need
To put such women in their place
Along came one on our main drag
Who cut in front of Nana’s car
She waited for the signal’s turn
To cut in front and get the green
And thumbed her nose as he sat there.