"So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good."
----Helen Keller
Within the confines of Margie's Beauty Shop adjacent to her home on Ninth Avenue, Margie Thomas Passman made her customers feel just that --- at home. I can picture it now --- from the blueish green settee, where I did homework, to the chairs that swiveled and reclined - it was a fantastic place.
The clients - a cavalcade of ladies, men, and children parading through the door --- were welcomed and transformed by Ms. Margie. And all had adoration and respect for her. Let's face it, Ms. Margie knew everyone, and everything, in town. Her standard line, when conversing, "Well, you didn't hear it from me…"
Much like the movie "Steel Magnolias," Ms. Margie saw folks in Franklinton through thick and thin. She was loyal to her customers. I would be remiss if I didn't mention a few of the regulars who loved her just like my mother, my daughter, and I did. While the many lovely ladies are too numerous to name, they include (but are not limited to) Dianne Green, Jerry Green, Victory Green, Genevieve Magee (my Aunt "G"), Mary Erwin Babington (my Mamie), Hope Schilling, Mildred Magee, Mary Louise Brumfield, Lilburne Scheuermann, Audrey Stafford, Beth Jones, Emogene Wood, Dr. Lois Wales, Jerry Dick, Mary Margaret Burris, Wanda Thomas, Barbara McMillan, Helen Walsdorf, Vanda Miller, Marie Moore, Lee Foil, Bobbie Johnson, Joetta Burris, Elaine Barnes, Chris Jenkins and Elsewood Magee. Those are the ladies with whom I got acquainted, on the days of my mother Margie Nell Ellzey's appointments, at Margie Passman's Beauty Shop.
And more often than not, Ms. Margie brought out a scrumptious baked treat --- cake, cookies, or pie --- for her customers to sample. She loved to share, and to indulge in, goodies. Many a recipe exchange took place at Margie's Beauty Shop. And it tickled me pink that she enjoyed my brownies so much that she placed the recipe in the Winterset Club cookbook. Ms. Margie was a dedicated Winterset Club member.
It was businessman and author Arnold H. Glasgow who said, "A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." Ms. Margie certainly was a friend when folks were down. A longtime, faithful member of First Baptist Church in Franklinton, she practiced what was preached. Ms. Margie did hair not only at the hospitals and nursing homes but also at the funeral home.
When my mother was in the hospital over twenty years ago, and not expected to make it, Ms. Margie appeared, first to pray while Momma was in ICU and then to do her hair once she made it to the floor. Franklinton native Louise Miller Dill was the Director of the Skilled Nursing Unit where Momma, weak as a kitten, progressed, and I well remember the day she walked in, to find Ms. Margie doing Momma's hair. Somehow, I don't think she was surprised. She said, "Hello Ms. Margie" while Ms. Margie carried on. And Ms. Margie returned week after week, moving to the rehab with us until Momma eventually walked back into her beauty shop.
The stories Ms. Margie told of the early days were mesmerizing. She was a child of the Great Depression when times were tough. She described holding onto sugar, a decade later, during the shortages of World War II. Perhaps her early era explains why Ms. Margie wasn't afraid of work. Raising two sons on her own, she made her own living. No-nonsense when it came to business, she was astute and financially savvy. Never wasting a dollar --- remember, "waste not, want not" --- Ms. Margie talked with me many an afternoon, about investments and property. As it turned out, she had plenty.
Ms. Margie visited us at our farm where she admired the old-line camellias and marveled at my watering technique. While I have a sophisticated automatic sprinkler system at my primary residence, I lug the hoses around in the country. And Ms. Margie and I took scenic drives, enjoying the bucolic countryside. I drove her to Thomas, where she grew up and where we ventured into a roadside cemetery, and she drove me around Franklinton in her pretty, new Cadillac.
I learned plenty from Ms. Margie about pecans --- she had an orchard of pecan trees --- and timber --- she sagely replaced them with Southern longleaf pine --- and people --- she had a knack with folks. But her trust had to be earned. It meant the world to me that she trusted me for she didn't trust just anyone. With legal documents in hand, Ms. Margie drove herself to my home for me to review on at least one occasion. And on another, while she was deftly doing my mother's hair, she asked me to take her deposits to the bank --- I've never been more careful. But I knew long before that --- she was a veritable success story, a self-made Southern lady.
The last Sunday my mother was on earth --- June 26, 2011 --- Ms. Margie joined us at our farmhouse, where we were rocking on the front porch. Momma was having her homestead redone, and the wallpaper installer had departed the day before. Ms. Margie, getting the first glimpse of the traditional, floral wallpaper, a replica of the original, made Momma feel like it was worth it.
Then, that Wednesday, June 29, three days before Momma's unexpected death, Ms. Margie gave her a great haircut and style, one that would see her through. No surprise --- Ms. Margie was working, by choice, on her own birthday. We came bearing gifts, and she and friend Dorothy Taylor shared some birthday cake. It could not have been a better day or, unbeknownst to us, ending.
Industrious, Ms. Margie continued her work as a beautician, working for nearly 70 years, until age 87. Beauty and therapy, for all. Ms. Margie was far more than a beautician to her customers. Our beloved friend succumbed on April 10. I miss her already.
