Margaret - WEEKEND 15 MINUTES FREEWRITE

My grandfather lied to my grandmother. I guess it runs in the family. His father lied to his mother too. I can remember my grandmother telling me that all the men in our family have always been liars and hustlers. Her explanation on this was that they couldn't handle the fact they were with strong women. Not one of them was simpleminded or uneducated, and even those who stayed home to take care of children, did that extraordinary well. All of them who were, in todays terms, housewives were the best caregivers, teachers, nurses and therapists to their families but still managed to have a life of their own. They had book clubs and field trips with their friends, they laughed and enjoyed life. They were never just mothers or just wifes, they were themselves, and each and every one of them had a hobby of some kind. Margaret had this habit of spitting. It began to get on my nerves. She was my grand-grandmother and was alive up until I was ten. Back in her days, the woman started to despise men and ridicule their behavior by mimicking it. They would go around scratching their crotch, drink whiskey and curse a lot, just to point out how disgusting it was. Somewhere along the line, I guess they started enjoying it too because they made a little contest, a spitting contest. They would bet who among them would spit the farthest. Keep in mind that those are women we're talking about and it was the 1930s. They didn't place their bets in money dough, oh no, they would bet the products from their gardens, so the winner would get to go home with all sorts of fruits and vegetables. The day her mother slapped her face was the day Margaret stopped participating in the contest but still did it in her everyday life when her mother wasn't looking. She was doing it in her old age also, but never around men, only us women. I didn't really get that, wasn't the whole point of that for men to see her? Somehow she forgot when to do it or started enjoying it too much, or her mother slapped her contempt towards men so hard, Margaret lost it. Never the less, Margaret was a spitter until her death.