My God-Sister Gladys

People often ask, why I took care of Gladys since we were not related.  It’s a reasonable question, especially since caregiving is so demanding. Gladys was my god-sister with a significant age difference, but we were raised as sisters.  I lived with my god-parents until I was eleven years old, they were my family.

How Gladys Came into my Life

My mother moved to Philadelphia in 1948, when she was 18 years old. Like many women new to an area, she looked for a good beautician and she found Gladys.  They soon became good friends.  When I was born, Gladys’ mother became my godmother.  I lived with my god-parents part time until I was five; after that, my mother went back to Tennessee to take care of her mother.  I stayed in Philadelphia.

Her Personality

Gladys was quite a character. She lived well, dressed well, always had a nice car and travelled frequently.  She was not domestic and had no children.  Gladys didn’t cook or do housework.  Fortunately, her mother and husband were excellent cooks. After their deaths, family and friends cooked for Gladys and helped her with housework.  Although I despise the term diva, it pretty much described Gladys to a T.

Profession

Shortly after graduating beauty school, Gladys moved to Detroit to work in her cousin’s hair salon.  However, that venture was short lived because she couldn’t stand to be away from her parents.  Gladys moved back to Philadelphia in less than a year.  Shortly thereafter, she opened her own hair salon, just a few blocks from home.

Gladys’ hair salon was quite successful from the early 1950’s until the early 1970’s.  Her salon was the place to go for a great haircut.  Unfortunately, business started to drop off when wigs became popular again in the ‘70s.  Eventually she began a career with the state of Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice department, where she worked until retirement.

Rebel Was Her Middle Name

One of the things Gladys was known for was her big personality and being outspoken.  We were raised in a very strict Pentecostal church: no makeup, conservative clothing, work was not allowed on Sundays.  Gladys, however, didn’t always follow the “rules.”  She was so outspoken in church that she was often “silenced” for a period of time and had to sit in back of the church.  Red nail polish was one of her guilty pleasures. She told the church elders that the nail polish was to cover her discolored nails that was the result of the blue rinse she used on the older women’s hair in her salon.  Another act of rebellion: supposedly, Gladys didn’t have eyebrows, which was why she used an eyebrow pencil. Anyway, that was her story and she stuck to it.

Gladys Was Family

Family is usually defined as descendants of a common bloodline; however, family can transcend bloodline.  With unconditional love and support we can choose our families.  When Gladys’ doctor informed us that she shouldn’t live alone, we stepped up and took care of her.  It wasn’t our duty, she was family and it was the right thing to do.