Have you ever heard someone say, “That old boy is tied to her apron strings”? Of course “apron” is synonymous with cooking. My wife, Janis, has written four cookbooks and loves to cook. She also watches a plethora of cooking shows on television.

We have made many advancements in the past 50 years, but many people do not know that an apron was used for many different things back in the old days. As I thought about this column, my friend Ruth Baker from the great state of Alabama came to mind. While it’s been a good number of years since I have heard from her, and I am not sure whether she is still alive, she is a dandy.

What I do remember is that Ruth was one of a kind. After high school she went on to college and became a teacher, and a very good one. She distinguished herself as Alabama’s Teacher of the Year, Walker County’s Mother of the Year, the state of Alabama’s Governor’s Award winner, and many other titles. When she was growing up, in her own words, she was a “tomboy” and “tough as a pine knot.” Apparently her mother and father were the “salt of the earth” kind of people and their home was, more or less, the hub of the community. Back in those days, they all worked: the mother and father and all 12 of their children.

When I think about life today and compare it to life these people lived, I am very grateful. I can get in my car and go anywhere I want to go, get on a plane and get there faster, turn on the television and get instant news, e-mail my friends anywhere in the world with the click of a button, call 911 if I have a fire or medical emergency, and so many other blessings that it would take a month to name them. Ruth has most definitely provided a link to my past. For more than 25 years she has also written a weekly column for the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama. This is where our paths crossed.

Some time back, she sent me a copy of her book “Barefoot Dreams.” It is delightful, and brought back so many memories. With reference to my earlier comments about “tied to her apron strings,” one chapter told about the uses of the apron that I wanted to pass along to you.

“The apron was a most useful article of clothing. It became a potholder, if a pot started boiling over on the stove. Gathered up from the bottom, it formed a bag just right to hold eggs while gathering. Next, it seemed to be just the right size to hold a “mess” of beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, or other garden goodies.

“It also held splinters of rich pine or chips for starting a fire in the wood cook stove. The apron became a soft cloth to dry tears from children’s faces. It was used as a fan when the heat became unbearable and a mop when perspiration dimmed the vision. My mother also used her apron to fan a sluggish fire to life. When it came time to milk twice a day, she found the apron held the right amount of corn to feed the cow while filling her milk buckets. Gathered up from the bottom, she carried shelled corn to throw out to the chickens.”

Thanks, Ruth, for the walk down memory lane. If you are a younger person, I hope you have enjoyed this little taste of nostalgia and you don’t really miss the thought or idea of what life was like before the days of modern conveniences. We must keep the good and discard the bad and begin now to change our violent culture, for the sake of future generations.

—

(Editor’s Note: For a personally signed copy of my new book ‘Your Future Begins Today’ send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)