My quest began when my mother and aunt, both in their late 80s, shared memories with me about how when they were girls and a new sibling was born they would go to a nearby creek bed to dig plants to make a necklace for the new baby. Neither of them could remember the plant or what its purpose was, but thankfully Sylvia Evans Brown does remember.
Ms. Sylvia is a living, walking, talking fount of information. In her 99 years living in the Toro bottom / Rattan area of Sabine Parish she has seen a lot of changes, and she says her mind is as sharp as it ever was due to keeping active. She reads, works puzzles, quilts and crochets. She has been crocheting baby blankets so long that she says some families has three generations of blankets she’s made. A childless widow who lives alone, Ms. Sylvia is proud that she can do her own housework and cooking though she admits to her legs being some wobbly.
