Cleanliness is next to godliness
Southern Comfort Cleanliness is next to godliness
Grandma always said. Most days she met me at the screen door with a feather duster or our new Electrolux vacuum, the hose sucking my blouse. She said she liked her girls clean. She said I was coated with dog hairs, horse hairs, and God only knows what all else. Fixing me like a flower bouquet, tucking in my blouse, fluffing my bangs and adjusting my barrettes, she'd stare me down just to let me know I was allowed in only if she said so.
From Southern Comfort by Nin Andrews. Copyright © 2010 by Nin Andrews. Used by permission of Cavenkerry Press.