From the Youngest - Dewayne Halsey

From "Dewayne Halsey Interview 03/26/2025"

Jessica Halsey: "You mentioned the porch and how much she enjoyed being on the porch even before you fully restored the trailer. Could you talk about that a little bit?

Dewayne Halsey: "Yeah. I mean having a porch where we're from was basically a necessity. It's kind of like, in a sense, having a sense of being because when you would visit someone you wouldn't normally sit in their living room for hours at a time, or even in the kitchen, which you would. What you would do is sit on the porch and watch cars go by, that you may or may not recognize, or because you're out on the porch, just random"

Jessica Halsey: "Could you talk a little bit more about Big Momma during your childhood or just growing up in Panola. I knew her as my Big Momma, as my grandmother, but she was your mother. Could you tell me about your memories with her?"

Dewayne Halsey: "Oh yeah, sure. She was very protective of me...She had a way of calling out my name when she would look for me. Then it would just make my skin, make my flesh crawl because of how she...would say my name and she'd say it over and over and over and so you could ignore, I mean...I guess because she was so used to being ignored...You know, 200 yards down in the thicket of the woods, and you could just hear that name. My name. Just ring out. Bouncing off the trees. Just to run all the way back home for her to say she didn't want anything."

The house is a symphony of laughter, cooking, ironing, and eating. It's the busiest day of the Fourth of July weekend: Sunday morning. The cousins are sleepy-eyed, eating a full plate of grits, eggs, bacon, cherries, pancakes, and ribs they snuck from last night's festivities. The boys play on the Xbox while the girls continue making friendship bracelets from old beads and fishing lines. Of course, everyone is running completely behind. Some still need to take showers.

"Where is the iron?"

"Who is next on showers?"

"Where is Josh?"

At one of the many tables crammed into the trailer sits Big Momma, a big smile on her face as she eats her breakfast. As soon as Auntie Dorthy finishes plaiting her hair, she will be the first one ready. Wherever Big Momma is seated, you can almost always expect her youngest, Dewayne Halsey, to be sitting with her.