Wisconsin Life

Hi, I'm Cynthia Woodland and this is my Wi sconsin Life. Oh, my goodness, where do I begin Big Mama? My Big Mama was Octavia Miller, my mother's mother. I used to think she was mean. I used to think that she was real sharp with her tongue. Like, let's say I was talking too much or something. And she'd say, "You too little for that big mouth."

laughter

You know, I didn't come up like that. You know I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. Big Mama lived in East St. Louis, Illinois. And it's a rough area. Over the years, I remember when we were coming up, we would go and get these big pickles at the corner store, or snow cones, or something like that. Over the years, you could tell that the neighborhood was growing progressively worse. Used to be that it was just a store that you'd go to. You know, the next time you'd go back, there'd be bars on the windows. And the next time you'd go back, the entire store would be behind bars. Things kind of declined. But Big Mama still lived on Market Street, still lived in the same place. On her porch there were these shell-like chairs, aluminum-looking shell chairs. She was walking back from the store one day, and noticed her chairs on somebody else's porch. She went back at her house, got her pistol, walked over to the house that had her chairs, and told the little thugs that were at the house on the porch, "Those are my chairs and I want you to take them back right now." And they did. They listened to her. She watched them take those chairs back to her porch. And it never was a problem again. And I feel like that's part of my legacy. It's that strong, black woman that says, "I will not be disrespected. "You'll not walk over me. Get my chairs and bring them back." I was kind of a wayward child. So a lot of lessons, I feel like I came to later in life. Then I felt like I was more open to hear what she had to say.

Cynthia imitating Big Mama's voice

"Stay close to the Lord. "Life will be easier for 'ya. "You don't play with God. You mean what you say." Oof! That would just give me goose bumps, even now when I think about it. I remember after my father's mother passed away, I took a tape recorder with me because I've always loved recording people's stories. And I wanted to get her voice on tape. I remember, I apologized to her. I said, "You know, I wish I would have been a better granddaughter." And she was like, "Oh, now please." She just talked about how she said she'd always loved me and she always would. And so that meant a lot to me to be able to hear her say it. But also to have it, to be able to listen to forever. -

recording of Octavia Miller

I had a good life. And by the grace of God, I raised my six girls. And I'm proud of every one of them. I don't have too much longer to live and I know it. But I keep you in my prayers. You know right from wrong. I love you. I always have and I always will. God bless you and I love you. Thank you.