Celebrating Five Generations of Strong and Determined Texas Women

I’m a bit emotional writing about five generations of Texas women.

My maternal grandmother is finally having surgery to fix her fractured shoulder on Monday. Hopefully, this will be the end of several weeks of pain for her and frustration for everyone involved.

Celebrating five generations of Texas women

But it’s made me realize, once again, that I come from a long line of strong and determined Texas women.

When we set our minds on something, we do everything in our power to make it happen. And we pray about the rest.

We don’t always do patience well.  But we do persistence and courage well.

My great-grandmother

My maternal grandmother’s mother, Hilda, grew up in San Felipe, Texas, the birthplace of Texas. I didn’t know her because she died before I was born. She sounds like a pretty tough cookie (and apparently made some pretty tasty cookies on occasion, too) though.  She raised 3 boys in San Antonio and Houston and then, surprise, 8 years later…

My maternal grandmother

My grandma, Myrle, is the baby of her family, with 3 much older brothers.

She was born in Houston and raised in the now historic Heights neighborhood. My grandmother fondly remembers growing up around University of Texas football. Her brother Jimmie was a UT quarterback and team captain.  After attending Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, she met and married my grandfather in Sealy. (Today happens to be his 93rd birthday!) She taught elementary school, including Texas history, there and in Brookshire, for many years.

My grandmother eventually retired from teaching to pursue her true loves, traveling and selling antiques.  She is feisty, resourceful and quite the extrovert, even with a broken arm and her 90th birthday just a few weeks away.

My mother

My smart, opinionated and sensitive momma, Dixie, a descendant of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old 300”, was born and raised in Sealy, next to San Felipe.  An adored only child and rancher’s daughter, she was a talented writer, artist, seamstress, cook, horseback rider, tennis player, swim instructor, twirler and model.

After attending Texas A&M University and marrying my dad in College Station, my mom moved with him to Round Rock, Texas. She taught high school English and worked in public relations there, and then Austin. That’s where I (and later, my brother) arrived on the scene.

Me

A seventh generation Texan and second generation Aggie, I was born in Austin. I grew up in north Austin and then Dripping Springs, Texas.  I fell in love with my husband, who was also from Austin/Dripping Springs, at Texas A&M.

After college, we returned to Austin. We got married and started our family, while dealing with the implications of my mother’s Alzheimer’s disease.

My girls are little Texas women

Born in Austin and raised in Buda, our daughters are 22 months apart. They are the best of friends, with very distinct personalities. The oldest is sensitive and cautious, the youngest is wild and adventurous.

Both are incredibly stubborn.

They know what they want, and nobody is going to convince them otherwise. It makes parenting them tough at times but it eases my mind about peer pressure in their teenage years and beyond.

Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. – Matthew 5:37 ESV

I want to raise women who “walk confidently in their choices,” as Jen Hatmaker describes in For the Love, “no regrets, no apologies, no guilt.”

We’ve got a Texas strong legacy of persistence and courage. And we’ll keep working on that little thing called patience…