Who is Dee Taylor?

Interview Transcript

Okay, so, welcome to Jeny’s TattleTales. Today, Jeny’s not here, but we’re gonna interview Dee Taylor the heroine of Jenny’s upcoming book, Dee’s cornucopia that’s going to be released on August 4 this year.

Yep. Welcome Dee.

Thank you.

Can you tell our readers What is your full name?

It’s DeAndre Georgette Walker Taylor!

And people call you Dee for short.

Yep.

Do you have any other nicknames?

Oh, I’ve got many other names, but probably not for human consumption right now.

Well, let’s pretend that nobody will hear this.

Oh. Well.

Give me again. some inspiration.

Hot Stuff hot Mama. You know, don’t call me late.

My hand is a little bit heavy today. It’s that I got my flower and it got a little bit heavy. So apologize for that. Um,

Do you really want to keep the flower?

I love my flower.

I mean, it’s crazy. But ya know, it’s pumping into your nose!

That’s okay, cuz I got a lot of nose to bump into.

 So where were you born Dee?

I was born on a wahoo Hawaii in 19. 41 December 7, which was of course, as you know, Pearl Harbor day, yes.

And my my daddy died the same day that I was born. And it was really sad. It was really hard on my mama Catherine. But she, she’s tough woman and she took us off of Oahu and brought us on over to Kauai, Hawaii. And that’s where I was born and raised or raised.

And I guess you live there now.

I do with my grandson, Finn and his new bride. Her name is Raven.

Yeah. And we know Finn and Raven from the Sea Archer, right?

Oh, yeah, that that that gal Jeny. She She wrote that. Their whole story down and it’s it’s a good story. They’ve got a good… a good start. Yeah, my head is flattening my nose. Oh, that’s okay. Okay, we’ll keep going. I’m a trooper.

Do you have any siblings Dee?

I do not. No, no, my daddy died the day that I was born. And I and that was …I was enough for my mama. She never did that again. I don’t know what that was about for sure . She just didn’t want to date.

That was a question, but you kind of answered it. Because my voice sound like …

Well, I’ve got a little bit of everything in there. But because I was born in the 40s I guess I just kind of got a little country twang that my husband Arthur had. He was from Alabama.

And did you go to somewhere in the south? Where did you pick this up?

I don’t know. It just came out of nowhere.

Are you a left handed or right handed?

Oh, I’m a righty. Yeah!

Um, and what do you do for a living Dee?

Oh, well, I grow things. For the most part. I have a little flower shop in Kauai. It’s actually in Koloa. And it’s called Dees Cornucopia. And I run that since my husband first bought the property for it. And um, yeah, so I’ve been doing that for quite some time now.

And what things do like to grow?

Anything! Anything darlin! I’ve got… I can grow. I can grow anything. Flowers, vegetables, you name it. I mean, look at the flower that I have on my hat today. I grew that.

How long did it take to grow it?

A long, long time!

Do you have any annoying habits?

What are you talking about? I am a very proud eccentric woman. And that’s just the way that I’ve always been. I love the way that I am. I make no apologies for the way that I am.

I know people know you or about how you dress.

Yes. Today I’m a little bit more subdued. I got my stripes and stuff on but I like to wear mumus the most and there’s a reason for that. And, and you might find out about that in the book, but I love mumus and here’s the reason why. Because when I was a young gal, all I did was wear things to my mama’s way of thinking or you know, ways you know 50s women had to dress a certain way. So I dressed that way for a long, long time. And then when I wanted to start my garden shop I told my husband that when I started that garden shop I was gonna wear nothing but floral dresses, and be the way that I wanted to be with no apologies. That’s who I am!

Okay, so what is your hair color in your eyes? Because obviously we can’t see

Yeah, well um Yeah, I got kind of a weird little fringy thing going on here but usually my hair is I think the lights catching it a little bit different here today, but I’m mostly a silver haired you know white haired, kind of snowy white lady, but it’s hidden that kind of funny today at all so cramped today. I don’t know what that’s about. It must be the light.

Yeah, and what color are your eyes?

Oh, my grandson likes to say they’re like ripe blueberries

Do you have any scars?

Nope, not a one

How about tattoos?

Oh, no those things my my grandson has a tattoo. And I thought he was just plain stupid when he did that. But you know, he’s… he’s got to be him. Just like I gotta be me.

So you will never get a tattoo?

Well, I guess I can’t say never but if I got one it would probably be on my butt somewhere

Wouldn’t it hurt to sit down on your butt?

It would hurt a lot, but I got a lot of butt for it to hurt too. Don’t think that I would…. If I had to get it somewhere have to be something that would be able to sag along with my burt, yeah.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Oh? Hmmm… I don’t know…

I just think I use all of them. All the phrases all of….. I just I just talk a lot, probably. But most of the time when I say something it’s worth, it’s worth saying. I think, because I say I say it like it is!

Straight shooter?

Yeah, I’m a straight shooter.

Ok

Yeah.

Where did you learn most of your skills and abilities? Did you always knew that you can curl stuff, or you just woke up one day and just wanted to grow stuff?

Well, my mom was… she grew stuff. And she taught me how to… how to make things grow, how to make them seed, and how to make them grow. And we created our garden out and back together. And uh….And ever since then, I mean, I just I think I learned more. I learned a lot from her. Yeah, you’ll learn more about my mom on the book, too. She’s she was a really good woman. She helped me a lot in my life and I’ve had some some tragedy in my life. And she helped me through most of it.

Do you have any role models?

My role models? Hmm. Well, I guess it would have to be my mama and probably my my late husband, Arthur.

Okay, now I know you grew up without a father. How was your childhood?

Well, most people would think it’d be kind of lonely if you didn’t have a father. But my mother, she… she really was a good, a good woman. And she was able to be both to me. My childhood, my you know, again, I was kind of raised in the come of age in the 50s, I guess. And back then women were young, there’s a certain way women had to be and my mom knew that I didn’t really march to that drummer. So she was really good about letting me be myself. And yeah, so I mean, what is the question?

Yeah, I’m kind of looking out there at the trees, and they’re looking out for it. And I was coming in my own world.

When and where were you the happiest?

Oh, wow. Well, I’d have to say, my very happiest was with my husband, Arthur. He was a real good man. And he made me feel like I was okay. Just who I was, and we got married and we have a little boy. And I’d have to say those first few months were probably the happiest my whole life.

Who are your friends? Do you have any friends?

Oh, girl. I’ve got so many. I’ve got … everybody knows me. If they haven’t met me once? Well, I don’t know. There’s just nobody. That’s a stranger to me. I know everybody on that island. And if I don’t know you, that means your visitin. And I’m going to know you shortly.

When did you have your first kiss and with whom?

Oh, okay, now we’re getting to the meat of it. I’ve had many kisses. And I’d have to say a lot of them were behind my mama’s. There’s a big old banyan tree at my mom’s house and, and my first kiss was probably when I was about maybe 13 years old. Right before I had to leave. I had to leave school to go help my mama with with work and making the bills. So my first kiss was the summer before I went and did that. And I was 13 years old right behind the old banyan tree. The boy’s name was Teddy Frukenaka

Who had the most influence on you?

Hmm. Well, I guess I just influenced myself most of the time… I had. There’s a lot of people out there and I you know, I just don’t fall on my own drummer.

What is your greatest regret so far?

Oh, well, that would have to be my son, Matthew. I have a lot of regret with him. He, he was a good boy. But it was hard raising him by myself. And he got into some trouble when I was having to work and I just couldn’t, couldn’t ever get him completely out of it.

Was there anybody else after your husband?

Oh, well. I guess the answer I should say is absolutely not. But there might have been a couple of times or two with a nice police officer I knew but…

What is the most evil thing you’ve done?

Evil I’m not an evil gal! I… hmm.. I don’t think I’m evil. Hmm I guess when I kick Beaker Sparks but he fell down I guess maybe I was a pretty evil thing to do, but he was an asshole so.

Okay, so he deserved it?

He deserved it, he was evil.

Do you have a criminal record?

No, no.

What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you so far?

Well you know, I don’t get embarrassed. I embarrass people. So I don’t think I’ve ever been real embarrassed by nothing.

What is your best memory? And the worst memory?

Well, my best memory is probably the day that I got Finn, but it was also probably the worst memory I ever had as well because I lost my son the same day. But Finn, that boy can make me smile. Make every day a good day.

He’s a great guy.

He’s a great guy. Oh, he’s a hot boy. Yeah, yeah, he’s always been one… I had to chase away the girls and I have to chase away the girls actually. He trying to get with a girl so yeah.

What is your greatest fear?

Losing Finn. I’d probably say I’ve lost my mom. I lost my daddy lost my husband. I lost my son and so losing Finn would just about damn near break me I think.

Do you believe in the existence of soulmates? And was Arthur your soulmate? For too long?

I do believe in true love. And I think I do believe in soulmates. I do think that maybe there might be room for more than one but my so far it’s been Arthur. I can’t imagine life without with the someone else. So I’d have to say probably Arthur.

Okay. What is your biggest secret?

Oh, girl, I got lots of secrets and I not gonna tell you none of them.

Is there’s anything else I should ask? What if you were to die and come back as a person animal or thing? What do you think you would be and why?

I’d be a butterfly. Right? Oh, I I just think those butterflies are… are, you know, they’re constantly making themselves better. And you have maybe a shit life going on. And you get to like put yourself in a little crusty cocoon and you get to like break free of all of that and and spread your wings and become a better person. And I just really liked the idea of the butterfly. So I probably say that.

Okay, and what is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered?

Oh, probably, probably my… Well, okay, you know, we got ourselves caught up in a little bit of a hiccup here with all of these crazy, crazy things that have been that haven’t happened on lately. So I guess if I can get through the next few months, and we get come out the other side of this thing with this, these crazy. Okay, I’m just gonna see these Greek gods that keep coming into our lives. And I you know, they’re creating a big old whoo ha…. and I’m, I just didn’t know what to think about when I first saw. And I think if we can come out the other side of that. Well, then…

Were you freaked out when you saw?

Well, there’s a lot to freak out. I mean, damn, you know, how many people get to have Themis come our and float around in their living room? I, you know, most people think I’m weird and yeah, I am weird, but I own that I’m weird. To have weird things happen that I think are weird. Well, then that means they’re pretty damn near weird because, you know, there’s who has Themis come into their life and just hover around and float around. So Then telling you that you’re part of something that you didn’t even think actually existed and, you know, and then you have to try to convince people to come on board and they all think you’re stupid and you know, so it’s, it’s, it can be really, really tricky. If we can come out the other side of this, I’m gonna say that’s probably going to be my greatest accomplishment, and a close second would be Finn.

Okay, already, that’s about it.

Okay,

well, if you have any other questions for me, please make sure you email Jeny at Hello Jeny Heckman dot com.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re pretty good gal too.

Then Jenny’s gonna send them to Dee and Dee will answer!

and I’ll answer them for you.

Okay, yeah, that’s it for this episode of Jenny’s tattletales. Thank you for listening. watching.

We’ll see you later. Don’t Don’t be rocking any fire coming out of my face!