True Southern Style

by Beverly Ingle

Liv Fun: Vol 5 – Issue 4

There is something uniquely perfect about the wisdom passed down from mother to daughter in the South. Sure, mothers share their wisdom with their daughters in all parts of our country and have been doing so for generations. But if that wisdom doesn’t include when and where to wear pearls — real pearls — and how old you must be for those pearls to be an appropriate choice, all that can be said really is, “You poor thing.”

The South follows its own rhythm, and it’s the women of the South that set the cadence. To keep in time with that cadence and ensure that the Southern lifestyle flows along smoothly, they share bits of knowledge and invaluable insights among themselves. While that knowledge may have originated as anecdotal tales from previous experience, the lessons within them seeped deep into the Southern psyche and became codified.

As an eighth-generation Southerner, it is my honor to provide you with a primer to Southern wisdom so that you, too, may adopt the hospitality, impeccable manners, and perfectly sugared snark of today’s modern belle.

Family:

In the South, family is everything. They are also likely to be the same people who drive you crazy. You might fight like cats and dogs among yourselves, but you’ll always close ranks when faced with an outside threat. Whether you’re 9 or 93, Mama and Daddy are and always will be “Mama and Daddy,” and you likely can recite your lineage back at least three generations.

Perhaps most importantly among Southern families, the definition of “family” is quite broad. Aunts and uncles aren’t always blood relatives or in-laws; every good friend of your parents with whom you grew up earns the title too.

Friendship:

Friendship among Southern women is a remarkable case study in resilience. These friendships withstand the trials and tribulations of life, and the more commonplace stressors of marriage, kids, jobs, church and volunteer commitments; among all of this, time with friends gets lost.

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Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Winter 2016
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True Southern Style
by Beverly Ingle

There is something uniquely perfect about the wisdom passed down from mother to daughter in the South. Sure, mothers share their wisdom with their daughters in all parts of our country and have been doing so for generations. But if that wisdom doesn’t include when and where to wear pearls — real pearls — and how old you must be for those pearls to be an appropriate choice, all that can be said really is, “You poor thing.”

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Strength of a Woman

by Jessica McCurdy Crooks

We look at a woman, and most of us notice her physical attributes: how she dresses, her hairstyle, or how she carries herself. On closer look, we realize that none of these are really her true embodiment. She is so much more than these outward expressions or signs … yet the wise woman somehow seems to know that the two are inextricably linked.

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Proof We’re the Wise Ones

by Jeff Wozer

Yes, without question, we, the 50 and older crowd, are infinitely wiser than the rest. My hunches support this. I don’t have the exact figures, but I’m guessing the number of people 50 and older with face tattoos, compared to the number of people younger than 50 with face tattoos, should serve as firm proof.

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