Eternal Sister Friends
Sister Friends Rebecca White Carson (Right) and Marian Farris Hatch (Left).
“True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart.”
I have often heard the saying, ‘To have a friend, you need to be a friend," and I sincerely hope I have been the type of friend that my sister-in-law, Marian Farris Hatch, has been to me for over 50 years. I have always called her “Sister” because that’s what she’s always been to me. However, her most loyal friendship has been with her nonagenarian ‘Besties’’, Claudia Jackson Bryant and Anita Rebecca White Carson. These three Besties have been locked at the heart since 1928.
Have you ever been blessed to have a friend that you rarely see but can pick up almost where you left off in your last conversation the next time you see each other, no matter how long that may have been? These three ‘Besties’ have a friendship that has always been like that.
Their deep-rooted friendship began in their small Rosedale community in Homewood, Alabama, and has never been broken for Marian, Rebecca, and Claudia. My sister-in-law once said that this trio's friendship began before they were born because their parents were not only good neighbors but best friends. Claudia’s mother (Calendar Jackson) was Marian’s mother (Elizabeth Farris’) ‘Bestie’ who lived just a few doors up the street. Marian and Rebecca’s mother talked across the fence that separated their houses while raising their families in Rosedale. Their mothers were also all pregnant at about the same time, these three friends being born within a few months of each other in 1928 – Marian in April, Rebecca in June, and Claudia in August. There are so many beautiful memories they have shared over almost a century of good living.
I believe this kind of bonding is one benefit of small-town living that may have been lost over generations. Back in the day, seeds for friendships were planted to last a lifetime. So many of them from that time certainly did. One of the lessons Marian has always taught her daughters is the importance of building and keeping close relationship bonds with family and special friends. There has never been a place too far to keep these friends from remaining connected.
These three ‘Besties’ grew up on the outskirts of Birmingham, in Rosedale, attending school together from elementary through high school, when education for black children of this era was paramount. Rosedale, Homewood’s oldest African American neighborhood, was settled by formerly enslaved people at the end of the Civil War. Educating enslaved people was illegal before the end of the war. So, as soon as they were free, many formerly enslaved people began building their own towns, ensuring that future generations would not be denied an education. They first built schools in these small black towns like Rosedale.
Besties Marian Farris Hatch (Left) and Claudia Jackson Bryant (Right).
The parents of Marian, Claudia, and Rebecca were determined that their children would receive a good education and encouraged them also to attend college after high school. Their all-black high school burned to the ground during their high school years. These three friends and other schoolmates were taught in the pews of several black churches in Rosedale, each church teaching different grades. It took several years for the high school to be rebuilt, but they never missed a lesson. Marian, Claudia, and Rebecca graduated from all-black Parker High School; then, each went in different directions to college.
And these three women have certainly been no shrinking violets. Marian was the lead majorette in high school, and Rebecca was their cheerleading captain. After high school, they all went off to college – Marian to Alabama State, Rebecca to Miles in Birmingham, then to Clark College in Atlanta, and Claudia to Nursing School in Missouri. Rebecca and Marian became resolute educators their entire careers. In the town of Greensboro, Georgia, there is a school named in Anita (Rebecca) White Carson’s honor that has made us all so proud. On Marian's last cross-country trip just a few years ago, when Marian was 90 years old, she found her friend Claudia, with her 90th birthday on the horizon, still driving , lol! These women were obviously made from some amazing stuff!
There is something very special about our sisterhood connections, but there is something beyond extraordinary about this “Eternal Sister Friendship,” as Marian’s daughter Joyce has coined their bond. As family, we have repeatedly witnessed the joy that Marian, Rebecca, and Claudia have experienced with each other – stronger than many biological family bonds. Marian, Claudia, and Rebecca, we love you and honor all you are to us, the world, and especially to each other.
Eternal Sister Friends by Pauline Mansfield shares the story of three small-town best friends from Alabama and their deeply-rooted journey of life, love, and longevity in the sisterhood spanning over 90 years. In this video, you'll hear thoughts on this lifelong sisterhood from Jeanette Hatch Pauls, daughter of Marian Jeanette Farris Hatch.
