As a mother, her children could always rely on her
Frankie Johnson, 80, is a resident of St. James House in Baytown.
“I learned how to be a mother before I learned how to be a kid. I kind of raised my two younger sisters. I took care of them. I made sure they got to school all right and that their clothes were clean. I made sure they ate right. It was part of my job.
“Then, by the time I met my second husband, I was looking after four kids of my own, two boys and two girls. I told him, ‘Here’s the thing. I have four children and they go where I go. If you don’t expect me to keep my children, then you’ve got the wrong girl.’ My children were the most important thing in the world to me, and they still are. And he said, ‘Well, I expect you to keep your children.’
“I always wanted children. I wanted to raise my children like I wanted to be raised. My mother worked all of the time, so she didn’t really raise us. What could you do when you worked from 5 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the afternoon? You go to church together on Sunday and that’s about it.
“I knew that when I had kids, it was all going to be different. I wanted to be a mother to my children. I wanted to be close enough to them that they could rely on me more than I thought I could rely on my mother. Well, I could rely on her, but I didn’t know that at the time because she never was home. Just being there for my kids, that was the most important part.”
— Frankie Johnson
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