Just Who Is Minnie Mae Anyway?

Minnie Mae, Bessie Pearl, and unknown
1924

I thought it was about time to share a little bit about who Minnie Mae really is (or in this case,....was). Most people think that my name is Minnie Mae. Nope, I am not a Minnie Mae. As you see to the right side of the post, my name is Rosemary. .....Stay with me here......

OK, so now you are saying, "Did you steal someones identity?". Not really....well....not intentionally..now that I think about it, well yeah, I guess so. The reason most people call me Minnie is that it is the name of my etsy shop. So why is my shop named after Minnie Mae? You are about to find out.

Pictured above is the real Minnie Mae along with two of her friends. This picture was taken in 1924. Minnie Mae is the one to the far left in the picture. Beside her, is her (at that time) future sister in-law, Bess. Unfortunately, the third mysterious person on the right is unknown to us all.

To make a long story short, Minnie Mae was my grandmother. I say "was" to be grammatically correct but she is still my grandmother. I feel very weird talking about her by using her real name. All of her grand children called her "Nannie". It was before my time when someone came up with that name but regardless, it stuck.

Nannie had a tremendous impact on my life. She was kind to everyone she met. I don't remember her ever saying a harsh word (except to the cat that kept running in the door). She was an awesome nurse to anyone that was sick. Not a real nurse, but the "tuck you in and feed you chicken soup" kind of nurse. One of the things that I remember most about her, was that she could make you forget your troubles within two minutes of speaking with her.

My Nannie owned and operated a community grocery store when my mother was little. I always thought that was "cool". She could "tat" too. (Hummm, if she were alive today, I'd be selling some of her stuff for her- who am I kidding? She kept up with the times- she would probably be selling stuff for me!). Like most grandchildren, I could go on and on about my most cherished grandmother so I'll spare you the details.

When it came time to open my etsy shop, I had no problem thinking of a name for it. "Minnie Maes" was the name I chose. I chose her name to honor her memory and the legacy that she left behind. I think Nannie would blush at that thought......