Hello, again to my faithful readers of this week’s blog. So, thank you for your faithfulness and interest in Dorothy’s saga when she was a child. Don’t forget, Dorothy is my (deceased) mother and she told me this story of her life on November 25, 2001. If you missed reading Part 1 of this heart-wrenching story, please look on the right side of this blog page and click (Archive March 2024) and catch up with the events so far.

Is It Cracklin’ Yet?….

Up until this point, Dorothy was not allowed to pour off the hot grease. But on the sixth evening of this cooking ordeal, the smell of the cracklin’ and her curiosity got the best of her. It was evening time and the wooden logs were ashes and the oven had cooled down.

Dorothy screamed to high heaven! Momma Kate, who was a large woman, came running to her rescue. Dorothy was in such pain that when she saw her mother she ran to meet her and thrust her burned hand under the fat arm pit of her mother and proceeded to rub her hand in a back and forth motion. Before Momma Kate could calm Dorothy and stop her, all the top skin had been removed from the back of her hand from the wrist to the knuckles. Dorothy’s hand was white as snow. Momma Kate yelled for her husband, Buckwheat, my grandfather, to run to the drugstore which was about 15 blocks away to buy some sulfur powder which was sold by the pound. Today, you need a prescription to buy sulfur, but back then Buckwheat bought 15 cents worth and hurried back home.

Buckwheat’s big foot leaped upon the front porch, barely clearing two steps as his massive hand swung opened the front door. “Get the sorghum (*) molasses and make a paste with the sulfur, quick,” cried Momma Kate. Granddad hurriedly mixed the concoction and spread a thick portion on the back of Dorothy’s hand while she danced a slow motion quick step. (Today, a tetanus shot would be required to prevent infection. But no such precaution was taken for poor little ole Dorothy.)

The next day Dorothy went to school and because of her dilemma became an instant celebrity with her classmates and teacher, Mrs Shackelford. Everyone not only wanted to hear the story, but also wanted to help make Dorothy’s life easier while at school. Surprisingly, the teacher allowed Dorothy to sit at her big desk until the bandages came off. For more than a month, Momma Kate replaced the dressings each night with fresh linens. But best of all, Dorothy’s cousin , Paul, had to do all of her chores until she was 100 percent well.

When I visited my mother in Minnesota on that memorial day, she was 84 years old, and the back of her right hand bares only faint scares of her childhood burns. AIN’T GOD GOOD!!!! It is because of the home remedies and the wise thinking of my Grandmother, Momma Kate, that my mother’s hand is not grossly discolored. You see, after two weeks of Dorothy’s hand being bandaged, Momma Kate took red onion husks and boiled them until, the water turned red. Then she made Dorothy soak her hand in this solution for many days. This process was thought to be a natural dye and after several applications, Dorothy’s pale burnt skin color returned back to its normal brown. Boiled onion juice was also used to dye eggs at Easter time, too.

Post Script…After being raised by a praying mother and grandmother, and being constantly fed by cherished memories of just how the Lord Jesus provided when professional relief was unavailable, has been a guiding light in my upbringing and has caused me to trust the God of our Salvation!

THE END

NOTES:

(*) Sorghum – Rich in vitamins B2 and C, sorghum helps to promote and maintain healthy skin. It can increase the secretion of mucus, which has been proven to help rosacea sufferers and sufferers of other skin conditions such as dermatitis and eczema. (Information reported on Google search.)

(**) Sad Iron:

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