My Beautiful Lady
I remember the first time that I had written to my grandmother. I was about fourteen years old and had
never written a letter to anyone. I don’t remember what I wrote about, probably something about the
happenings in my young, adolescent life. However, I do remember how I addressed the envelope.
My grandmother’s name is Donia Lee Handley Jeans. I was pitifully unaware of several aspects
to her unusual name. She pronounced it as if it were spelled “ DONEE”. Therefore, I addressed it to “Mrs.
Donee Jeans”. A short time later, I received my first letter. Yes, it was from Granny, in answer to my
letter.
Among other bits of news, which she felt a young girl could safely know, she corrected me on the
spelling of her name, as well as the form in which I used it on the envelope. I shall quote her as closely as I
can remember: “My name is Donia and I am Mrs. Jeff Jeans. I have never been especially proud of my
name; but, I am very proud of who I am. Granny loves you.”(It occurs to me, today, that she seemed a
touch picky about the spelling of her name, especially since she always spelled mine “Bittie”. Hummm?).
Being chastised by my grandmother was, and always has been, a very difficult thing for me to
bear. She is a very special and dominant influence upon my life. I always tried to make her understand just
how special she was; although, not as often as I feel that I should have.
I took Spanish in high school. One of the first words taught to us were the titles for men and
women. In Spanish, “donia” means “lady”. When you hear someone addressed and “Donia Maria”, it
means “Lady Maria”. Another Spanish word is “linda”. This word means “beautiful”. I like to think that
this is the influence behind the naming of my grandmother, Donia Lee.
After I learned the Spanish connection to my grandmother’s name, whether intentional or not, I
always called her “Beautiful Lady” whenever I wrote to her. I would begin the letter with “Hello Beautiful
Lady” or I would end it with “I love you, Beautiful Lady.”
She had often mentioned that she could not understand why I would refer to “someone as plain as
I am” by such a name. I told her once that I was not talking to the outside of her. She was, and is, a most
beautiful lady.
I love you, Granny.