Possible

My grandmother Maggie was a wonderful, proper Southern lady of the old school – a Methodist preacher’s wife and well suited for the position. The only time I ever heard her curse was when she used the word damn and then only in reference to Yankees (not the ball club). She had a great sense of humor.

I and my brother, sister and cousins spent a lot of time at Granny’s house when we were growing up. I remember her saying, “Ya’ll go take your baths – and be sure to wash possible.” I never really thought about what she meant by possible – I just knew she meant to scrub everything real good.

That got to be sort of a family saying, then – be sure to wash possible. Later, when I was older, I asked her what that meant and she told me.

She said that she and my grandfather Raymond had known a doctor in one of the towns where they had been appointed by the Methodist Conference. He was a member of their church and he told them about a patient that had visited his office one day for a checkup. He pointed out that she was not the cleanest patient he had ever examined.

After the examination was over he told her that everything looked OK, but that she should be more attentive to her personal hygiene.

She said, “Well, I wash up as far as possible and down as far as possible.”

He replied, “That’s very good – but don’t neglect to wash possible.”

Well, there you have it. Granny got a big kick out of that and it’s been quite a joke and a saying in the family ever since.

Oh, and don’t forget to wash – well, you get it.

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