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Sharon Bryant Recalls Childhood Summers Spent in Batesville
Bryant
When Dr. Sharon Bryant was a little girl, she would spend her summer days soaking up the sunshine and basking in the homegrown, country goodness of her grandparents’ farm in Batesville.
It was a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of Bryant’s hometown, Chicago.
“For some reason, I just fell in love with Batesville,” Bryant said. “It was because of my grandparents.”
Every summer, Bryant’s mother would send her three children to stay with her parents on their eight-and-a-half acre farm. She knew her children would be safe there, and they would get a nice break from the city life. “It was country!” Bryant said with a laugh. “It was a treat for us to get to go to town on a Saturday.”
Summer life was simple for Bryant. Her grandparents did not get running water for years, and an old gravel road offered the only path to the rest of the world. But for Bryant, the simplicity made for sweet memories.
“Granddaddy would take us to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, and that was a lot of fun because [Vacation Bible School] not something we had in Chicago,” she said. Bryant even met her future husband, Harold, in a Sunday school class at Good Hope Church in Batesville.
When Bryant had children of her own, she knew she wanted them to experience simplicity, too. Her parents had retired and moved back to Batesville, so Bryant continued the tradition by sending her children to spend the summer with them. “I knew they were safe and where they needed to be,” she said.
Bryant had always promised that one day, she would come back to Batesville and live. Now that her husband has retired and her children are grown, she has that opportunity. “I guess my grandmother believed that because she left me the land she and my grandfather had,” Bryant said. “She made me promise that I would live on the land because Granddaddy had worked hard for it.”
Bryant and her husband have now moved to Batesville, and Bryant, who has a Ph.D in education, is hoping to find a job in the adult education field.
Beth Harmon is managing editor for HottyToddy.com. Email her at beth.harmon@hottytoddy.com.
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Sheneather Butler
June 24, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Excellent interview. Batesville Mississippi is blessed to have Dr. Sharon Bryant as a permanent resident. Dr. Bryant brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in both the educational and ministry field. Her biological family and her spiritual family here in Chicago miss her and her husband Nathaniel very much. May you all be blessed by her presence. Her smile is contagious, it can brighten up any room and lift any spirit.
Carol hudson
June 25, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Hi, Sharon this is why I have not seen you at church. Living Word Christain center. Oh, I work my first teaching job at Morgan Career Adcamey, on Franklin & Troy Chicago. I am from Clarksdale, Ms.
Dr. Sharon Bryant
August 11, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Hello Carol, I was offered my first teaching job is Clarksdale (Carl Keen, I believe is the name of the High School) during my first months in Batessville. I did not accept it, but the next you are in Clarksdale, please give me a call; I would love to see you : – )