Day 4: Fannye Lou Walker
What do you do for a living?
I am a housekeeper
What do you do to feel alive?
Anything with my hands – sewing, cooking, building. I also read and study the Bible. It keeps me grounded.
A lesson you learned from your mother:
My mother was a very strong person and I guess part of my strength came from watching her struggles. She also taught me how to be a good mom. How to give. She was a giver. I still do that. I still collect things for charity. That really came from my mom.
A lesson you learned from your father:
He was also a very strong person. He was a black and white type of person – a very “A” type personality. From both of them I learned to work with my hands. They were both good at that. They could take things apart and figure out how to build them.
What’s the most beautiful thing you saw today?
This morning when I woke up it was very quiet. It was peaceful. Last night I watched a documentary that kept me up most of the night about women’s issues in the 3rd world. I guess I woke up this morning feeling how blessed we are in this country.
What’s one thing you wouldn’t want anyone to take away from you?
My independence
What thought would you like to never have again?
Worrying about financial security
If you could become an inanimate object what would it be?
A car or a vehicle of some sort
When do you feel most loved?
When I’m with my family – my brothers, my sisters, my daughter – reminiscing about old times. Fun times.
If your life were to end tomorrow what would be left undone?
That I never married. Maybe. I don’t know.
What global issue would you take on if you didn’t have to worry about how?
Women’s issues in the world – even here. When I think about a 10 year-old being sold into sexual slavery – it’s heart breaking.
What’s the scariest thing that ever happened to you?
I would have to say something that happened to me when I was a young girl living in Mississippi. We grew up on a farm. My father raised cattle. My brothers were supposed to check on the pastures before sundown. One evening they sent me out to do it. There was a road that separated the pastures and as I walked along the road these guys pulled up in a truck. They tried to kidnap me, but I escaped.