We Didn't Know We Were Poor: Leola and Elsie's Opening Day: We Didn't Know We Were Poor

By Donnetta Booker

Ricky's great-grandmother loves a good story. During one of Ricky's visits, she tells him about the day she and her younger sister played baseball with the neighborhood boys for the first time. Journey back in time with Ricky and see what happens when two little girls face challenges and discover strengths they didn't know they had.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donnetta Booker
• Release date: Mar 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393696629

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Childhood Memories

Great-Grandma Leola is old. Really, really old, like almost-100-years old. In fact, she’s the oldest person I know. Even though she’s my great-grandmother, I call her Grannie, just like my mom does. Mom and I are visiting Grannie in Texas. It’s early summer, and it’s already so hot here that the bottom of your feet will get burned if you let them touch the sidewalk.

My mom went to the grocery store and left me here with Grannie in her apartment—which feels like an oven. Grannie doesn’t like to run the air conditioner too high. She says it’s bad for her bones. I guess that’s an old people thing.

I’m in the living room, watching one of my favorite TV shows from when I was a little kid. Plankton’s plan to steal the Krabby Patty formula is foiled once again by Mr. Krabbs. I’ve seen this episode a million times, but I still laugh every time I watch it.

What are you laughing at Ricky? I look up, and Grannie is coming in from the kitchen. She looks like she could be Barney’s sister in her light purple house dress and matching slippers. She has a big bowl full of chocolate-covered raisins on the seat of her walker. During our last visit at Christmas, she told me she had to trade in her favorite snack, chocolate-covered peanuts, for chocolate-covered raisins because her false teeth won’t let her eat peanuts anymore. She moves slowly and steadily as she wheels her walker towards the chair across from where I am sitting on the couch.

Hi Grannie. I’m watching SpongeBob SquarePants.

I stand up to stretch and notice how much taller I am than Grannie. I guess I’ve grown a lot since the last time I was here. I kick off my new black and red slides (my feet are almost as big as my dad’s now, so my mom had to replace my summer shoes) and lie down on the couch. I watch Grannie wheel her walker until she stops in front of the faded gold armchair. She has every move down to a science. She holds onto the walker’s handles, then turns around, lines her back up with the front of the chair, backs up a little bit, then plops down onto the seat cushion.

Whew! she sighs in relief.

For someone who’s almost 100, Grannie doesn’t have a lot of wrinkles. Her soft, white afro looks like a tiny cloud resting on her head and outlining her face. Her silver wire-framed glasses sit near the tip of her nose. Both lenses have a thin line that cuts across the middle. Grannie takes a few seconds to get comfortable, then picks up the