amalia mistretta
LIVE(long)
AMALIA MISTRETTA
My grandma, Amalia Cannon Mistretta is the sweetest, gentlest, most caring person I know. Born in 1906 she has lived through a lot…two world wars, the Great Depression and 18 presidents. Presently she has six children, 33 grandchildren, 58 great grandchildren and nine great, great grandchildren…that’s 106 direct descendants.
Mya, as she is known by most, was a young wife and mother during the great depression, yet you would never hear her complain about life during those years. In fact, my fondest memories of Maw Maw Mistretta are of her kind words and caring acts.
One of her hobbies was baking cakes. There was never a time, when we were children, that we went to her house and there wasn’t the smell of cakes or cookies baking. She always let us taste the batter, the cake, the cookies, the icing. All of the grandchildren’s, niece’s, nephew’s, cousin’s and family friend’s birthday cakes were made, with love, by maw maw and they were the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.
Baking cookies and cakes was my grandma’s hobby, but her dream was to bake and decorate wedding cakes. After my grandfather, her husband of 44 years, passed away she decided to take a cake decorating course at Louisiana State University and at the age of 66 my grandma obtained a license and opened “Mya’s Cakes.”
She worked until the age of 76 when she sold the business to her daughters, but she continued to help with the baking for many more years.
Today, maw maw lives with her daughter and son-in-law, Cathy and Buster Tipton. Her children and many of her grandchildren, great and great, great grandchildren live near by. When visiting maw maw, you’ll always find her in her rocking chair, often rocking one of her grand babies.
Someone once said, “It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.” That describes my grandma and the way she lived and raised her family. I can only hope to follow in her footsteps.
Submitted by: Keri Manuel
WHO IS YOUR HERO?
my hero
