Well, you’re still a child in my books, but I guess girls your age are married and havin’ babies already and workin’ in the houses already.  So, I’ll tell you about the most popular root to put in your gris gris–”Johnny the Conqueror.”  There are male Johnnys and female Johnnys.  Use the female Johnny. For love and gambling, the power of Johnny is considered supreme.  It won’t matter if you’re not pretty,  just do what I tell you.

Soak the root in sugar and water for twenty-four hours.  Take a square  of red silk material and stitch it on three sides to another square of red silk material. Now, you will have a red pouch the size of your Johnny root.  Turn it inside out. Put the Johnny root in the red pouch. Now, you have a gris gris.  Put the gris gris under your pillow at night.

They all taught me something about life. Chester was a builder and taught me about that and planting. Moses was a planter and taught me something in his own quiet way. He had a wonderful family–so loving. I learned what family was about from them.  Rufus had a certain zest for life being a street entertainer. I didn’t always understand his ways, but I learned how some men can’t help what they are. He knew how to charm a woman. Claudio was the gentlest man I ever knew. I learned how people should treat one another from him. Claudio is with me always. I still hear his voice, his laugh, his encouragement.

I was a dressmaker and a midwife. My husband, Moses’s mother, sewed all of her children’s clothes and they all dressed fine. She taught me to sew and embroider. I was happy, because that was better than farming and standing in the dirt most of the day.  I was both mamma and daddy to my two girls, and we got along fine. And the best part was that I was able to be at home with them almost all of the time.

Yes, I never would have dreamed that I’d be married four times. My first husband, Chester, not quite eighteen years of age, was killed in the Civil War. Moses, my second husband, a country boy, died of the fever. I was married such a short time to both of them, I never got a chance to have a baby. I cried and cried and thought I’d never have a little one to love. My third husband, Rufus, gave me my little Rosalia. He deserted us when Rosalia was four years.  My fourth husband, Claudio, was the love of my life, not that I didn’t love Chester, Moses, and Rufus. But Claudio was such a lover.

I would have to say that Claudio was the best in bed. He made it so special, because he talked to me and asked what I wanted and made me feel so special.  He always made sure that I was happy or he wasn’t happy. And he was so affectionate. I just loved that man.  It almost killed me when he died in a horse accident.

This is Camelia.  I’d love to tell you all about my life and times.