Original Post AUGUST 8, 2019

Great-Aunt Tenna’s given name was Florie. I never heard anyone call her that nor do I know where “Tenna” sprang from. Why did I not ask more questions? That will be one of my great regrets.

Aunt Tenna was the youngest of my grandmother’s three siblings. My grandmother was Anna. Sara and Nage were the other siblings.

Aunt Tenna had a great belly laugh and was so loud. Now, I realize she had a hearing problem because I am just like her! She had such a sense of humor. She and my great Aunt Sara were traveling by plane to Fort Worth, Texas. (Sara’s home) The flight attendant asked them if they wanted a cocktail and one of them replied, “No, we are already high enough.” Together they could have traveled the comedy circuit.

Aunt Tenna was married to Uncle Tom Ed but he had passed away a few years before I was born. They had no children. I was told that she helped my grandmother care for her four children which included my daddy. He always told me she was very generous to them even though the times were hard. Daddy also said his sister, Betty, was her favorite. He laughed when he told a time that he needed a nickel but Aunt Tenna only had enough for Aunt Betty. Hard to imagine a nickel pleasing anyone but we are talking back in the late ’30s and early ’40s. She also crocheted little dresses for all the little girls in the family. Momma managed to keep the dress and it still looks great. And it’s been worn by three generations.

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I remember going to visit her as a child in that big, square white house with a spacious front porch and wide concrete steps leading right down to Main Street in Zachary, Louisiana. She had a cherry tree in the backyard.

There was also a tiny little white house behind her house that resembled a dollhouse. Her daddy lived there and it fell to Aunt Tenna to care for him. It was said by many that he liked to sit on his porch and smoke his corncob pipe. He died just a few months shy of his 99th birthday. Daddy said he was in Baker, Louisiana visiting and he walked 4 miles home (it was August so you know it was a sizzler). He had a stroke that day and died. I don’t know of many folks his age that can walk 4 feet much less 4 miles. Now, this was my great grandfather so I’ll let you know if that genetic predisposition for walking is passed on. Anyway, I never got to meet him either as he had met his Maker before my arrival. Maybe we passed in transit. I’d like to think so.

We walked through the back door of Aunt Tenna’s house and we always entered through the back door. I guess it was the closest entrance to where we parked. Anyway, that back door led you right into the sprawling kitchen. There she would be standing with her apron fitted tightly around her stout self. Her hair was snow white and pulled back into a bun on the nape of her neck. She wore wire-rimmed glasses and I always remember her being jovial and laughing. Off to the right of the kitchen was a bedroom. The room was spotless and orderly. The chenille bedspread was wrinkle-free. And she allowed no playing on her beds much to my dismay.

Proceeding through the kitchen and into the dining room was an experience. This made a great impression on me because it was the first house that I knew of that had a dining room. Everyone else just had everything in the kitchen. That is where everything was prepared and consumed. Why we even washed and dried clothes in our kitchen. That’s where the visitors sat. I also got many of those smelly hair permanents sitting right at the kitchen table. I loved looking up and walking around because Aunt Tenna had those high ceilings and fancy light fixtures. Keep in mind that I was a child and everything seemed bigger, brighter and better.

I forgot to mention Aunt Tenna had a propensity for tobacco. Not the smoking kind. She actually liked chewing tobacco. Daddy said his grandmother, which would be Aunt Tenna’s mother, also was a tobacco chawer. She would sit on the porch and spit in the yard. He said when they were little and playing, they would duck to avoid being hit with one of her powerful expectorates.

Aunt Tenna kept a small pill bottle tucked in her bosom and every once in a while she would discreetly reach for the bottle and not so discreetly shoot a spittle stream into the bottle. She must have been an expert because she was always pristine. Her last years were spent in a local nursing home and my momma and I would visit but we would always stop at the store for Natural Leaf. That was her preferred brand. It was a little square of tobacco wrapped in clear cellophane. Wonder if they still make it?

Now she also liked a nip now and then. She made her own Cherry Bounce to serve at Christmas time. Aunt Tenna lived next door to her sister-in-law who often kept her granddaughter, Becky. Becky laughs as she tells the story today that Aunt Tenna would give her an ice cream bucket and give her a buck or two to fill it up with cherries from their tree. That is when Becky learned a valuable lesson. She might not get rich from picking cherries. I believe Becky was the last baby Aunt Tenna helped care for.

Momma had Aunt Tenna’s recipe for Cherry Bounce written down in her church ladies cookbook behind the miscellaneous. I guess that was a safe place to put it. Aunt Tenna made it with three ingredients: cherries, sugar, and whiskey. There is no instant gratification here because after it is made, it has to age a few months. The cherry season is in the summer and the beverage will be ready for the holidays. My momma would never let me have a taste but I was allowed to smell it and yes, it could knock your socks off.

So I have taken the first steps and made the Cherry Bounce. My jar with this rubescent concoction sits in a corner of my extra bedroom. When I think about it, I will give the bottle a turn to move the liquid. During the Christmas holidays, my cousins and I will all share in a toast to Aunt Tenna, that is if we can get it down. Here’s hoping all comes out well. I will post the results! And if you can find some cherries, go ahead and give it a try. And share the outcome.

Cheers!

CHERRY BOUNCE TASTE TEST

NOVEMBER 28, 2019

Since many of Aunt Tenna’s great-nieces and nephews gather at Thanksgiving, we agreed it was time to test the bounce. After all, those cherries had been infusing into that bourbon since August. The cherries were drained and the liquid was carefully poured into a glass container for transport.

The color was a beautiful clear burgundy. As soon as the jar was unsealed, the whiskey aroma was strong. And we were all eager for a taste. The glasses were poured. A toast was made. Not being a bourbon lover, I let the tiniest sip hit my lips. Not bad. I tasted sweet cherries. We all agreed it was worth the effort. I may even try it again next year.

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