Patti Ghezzi

Former AJC staff writer, frazzled mom, compulsive drinker of Diet Coke, wife of Yankee fan, native of Mississippi, resident of Avondale Estates. Proud of all of the above, except the D.C. Gotta kick that someday.
Number of posts: 2
Email address: pattighezzi@hotmail.com

Posts by Patti Ghezzi:

People & Places

White Child, Black Maid

by Patti Ghezzi | 10, Add your Comment | Jun 4 09

I’m thirteen and sprawled on the couch at my friend Mary Ellen’s house, watching TV. A black woman in a white uniform passes me a slice of cheesecake and a fork. I reach for the plate without looking at her. Maybe I say thank you, but I doubt it. Oh, man, it's Jello no-bake cheesecake. The best kind. I wonder if I can help myself to seconds or if I have to summon the maid, whose hovering presence makes me uncomfortable. Growing up in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1970s, many of my friends had maids, even those who lacked other symbols of ...

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People & Places, Sights & Sounds

My Hot Rollers, My Daughter, Myself

by Patti Ghezzi | 10, Add your Comment | May 1 09

Since seventh grade, I have indulged in the great Southern women’s ritual of forcing my hair to do things it doesn’t want to do. In Jackson, Mississippi, the trend was Farrah Fawcett, but a less care-free version of her feathered style. You hot-rolled the back and styled the front with a curling iron. Then, you got out your Aqua Net and sprayed, hoping the rumor wasn’t true that a woman once died when her lungs froze from inhaling hairspray. Sadly, my hair would not do the uptight Farrah Fawcett or the Jacklyn Smith or the Kate Jackson. Every morning, after an ...