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- Y'all, I have to say
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that this is probably my favorite room in our house,
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and I think that the reason for that
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is I can walk into this room
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and it's just full of memories for me.
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And I was just telling Eddie,
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I have realized that I had more things
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from my grandmother than my mother.
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My grandmother had longer times to gather things,
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and I've got a lot of personal pictures in here.
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For so long I was the, no, it was for a short time,
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Long time, I was the granddaughter,
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and now I find myself to be the mother
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of a lot of great kids and grandchildren.
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Now, this is my grandmother, Paul,
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and I think she is definitely the one
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that set me on my course.
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She and my grandfather was in the lodging
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and hotel business, the lodging and restaurant business,
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excuse me, and my grandmother did all the cooking
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for wherever she was,
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her kitchen was, at the time, but they owned Magnolia Lodge,
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and it was a very special lodge down
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that sat on Crystal River,
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and men, wealthy men would come in
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and they would lodge there and they would go fishing
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or hunting and bring their trophies back,
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and Grandmother would prepare the food for 'em.
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And there was a gentleman's smoking lounge,
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and it was where they could play poker,
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and it was just this most beautiful place
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that reeked of all kind of antiques,
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so, like I said, she set me on my path,
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and I know that you girls out there
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have got to have special mothers and grandmothers
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that were in your life and set you on your course
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and your beliefs and how you wanted your life to unfold,
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and I have to say, I think one of the most important jobs
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in our country has always been
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and will always be that special mother that's in that home,
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raising those children, turning boys into men
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and little wild girls into ladies.
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And it's a never ending job, never ends,
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and I don't care if they get to be my age,
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my children are almost as old as me now,
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they are still my babies, and they are still,
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if I tell them to sit in my lap, they have to sit in my lap
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because I'm still the mother and they're still my babies.
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So I just wanna take a little time
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I've actually been fortunate enough to have several mothers.
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My aunt, Peggy, my mother's younger sister,
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after my mother died, this was my mother,
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and this was Aunt Peggy, she was the lifeguard
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at the river bend at the pool,
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and after my mother passed away,
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Aunt Peggy really stepped up to the pump
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and started giving me guidance, because at 23 years old,
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I was 19 when I lost my daddy, 23 when I lost my mother,
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That's my mother and daddy's wedding picture.
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Bubba was 12 when Daddy died and 16 when Mother died,
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and it was truly one of the hardest parts of life
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that I had to face at a very young age
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because I was, by no stretch of the imagination, grown,
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and there I was with two babies under three
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and a 16-year-old that my heart broke for.
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So my birth mama, my mama after she took over,
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and that mama, and my other mama,
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where is the picture of my grandmother Hiers?
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It's somewhere, and they were so precious.
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One was real tall, one was 5'11" and one was 4'11"
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and they were just wonderful, wonderful women.
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And when I started The Bag Lady,
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I would get so tired and so down
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that I didn't think I was gonna be able to do it.
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Maybe I couldn't do this.
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Well, that's when my Aunt Peggy would come over
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and she would spend weeks with me.
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She's got panties on her head
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so she wouldn't get hair in the food.
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And she did everything she could
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to keep my confidence up that I could do this.
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She was my greatest cheerleader.
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My grandmother, when I called to tell her
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what I was finally gonna do to take control of my life,
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I went on and on and on about The Bag Lady,
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what I was gonna do, and the phone was silent,
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and I said, "Oh my gosh, we've lost a connection."
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I was saying "Grandmama, Grandmama."
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And all of a sudden she said, "Paula Ann,
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have you lost your damn mind?
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Don't you know how hard the food business is?"
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I said, "Yes'm, I think I know, and I also know
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that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
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She didn't say another word after that.
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She knew she was guilty.
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But I have been so blessed.
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I know my boys really missed out
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on meeting their grandmother and their grandfather,
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and I remember when Jamie was a little boy,
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he would say he would see other children
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with their grandmothers, and one day he asked me,
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he was maybe three or four years old, and he said,
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"Mommy, where is my grandmother?"
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And it just cut me to my heart.
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I'll never forget him asking that question.
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But anyway, I want to salute all you mothers out there.
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You're the backbone of this country,
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you're the backbone of the family,
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and without you keeping everybody on track,
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I don't know what would happen.
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So it's kudos to you mothers,
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and there are some fathers out there
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that are playing the role of mother and father,
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and kudos to y'all too.
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I hope you have a blessed, blessed Mother's Day
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and make all those children cook for you and wait on you,
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because it's your day.
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Love and best dishes to all of you out there.
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Hey, y'all, it's Paula Deen.
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Now, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it
8:31
and click the subscribe button as well as the notification
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and bail to be alerted when I post a video.
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Love and Best Dishes Y'all.
