Denise?
Guess What?
Kai Is Going To The Zoo Tomorrow.
Her Parents Invited Me.
Can I Go?
Sure.
Sweetheart, I'm Sorry.
You Can't Go.
But You Said Sure.
I Said That Before I Realized Why You Can't.
My Great-Great Aunt Gramtee Is Coming.
It's Her Birthday.
We're Having Dinner.
We Have A Cake For Her.
We'll Spend The Day Together And Go To Church.
Can I Have Cake And Go To The Zoo?
We Promised Gramtee We'd All Go To Church Together.
But I Didn't Promise Her.
I Sort Of Promised For You.
Why?
Because I Know
You'll Love Gramtee And She'll Love You.
Besides, You Love Going To Church.
You Hear Stories About God And See Your Friends, Right?
Right.
So We're Going To Church.
But God Wants Me To Go To The Zoo.
I Think God Would Be Happier If You Went To Church.
God Made The Animals.
That's Why I Should Go To The Zoo.
God Made Me Your Step-Mom.
I Say Since Gramtee's Coming From Virginia
We'll Spend The Day Together And Go To Church.
Okay, But Next Time, I Hope God Talks To Me First.
Rudy: Gramtee's Here!
Let's Go See.
I Tried To Take Her Around The Back
Where There Are No Stairs.
Are Your Legs Tired?
My Legs Aren't Tired.
Gramtee!
Oh, Hi There.
Did You Get All The Letters I Sent You?
Every One.
Hello, Gramtee.
(Loudly:) Mom Says The Last Time You Saw Me
I Was Only Ten Years Old.
You Sure Grew Into A Beautiful Woman.
And Loud, Too.
I Know Rudy.
Hi, Gramtee.
And My Denise.
But Who Is This?
I'm Olivia And I Just Want To Go To The Zoo.
This Is My Step-Daughter That I Wrote You About.
Oh...
So This Is Olivia.
You're Even Prettier
Than Denise Described.
Give Me A Hug.
My, My.
Well, You Just Go Ahead And Ignore Me.
Now Who Would Ignore A Face Like That?
Hello, Heathcliff.
Come On And Sit Down.
Let Me Take Your Shawl.
I Would Like To Sit Down.
Now You're Sure
Once You Get Into This Thing
You'll Be Able To Get Back Up?
Well, Now, Why Don't We Just Try And See?
There.
Was That Enough To Close Your Mouth?
She Told You, Dad.
How Was Your Stay With Anna And Russell?
I Was Teasing Russell
About When I Used To Hold Him On My Knee
And He Was A Little Fellow.
You Knew Grandpa When He Was A Baby?
She Changed Your Grandfather's Diapers.
You Used To Change Grandpa's Diapers?
Yes, Baby, And I Changed Your Father's Diapers, Too.
What Was Dad Like?
He Was A Mess.
It Was Nice Of You To Come Over, Gram.
Sorry You Can't Stay.
Denise: No, No, No, Dad.
We Want To Hear More Stories.
No, No.
Because These Stories Are Dumb.
Heathcliff, Did You Ever Tell The Kids
The Story About You And Sampson?
No, Gramtee, It's A Dumb Story.
Sampson Was A Duck Who Lived On My Brother's Farm
Down In South Carolina.
Shouldn't You Take A Nap?
Hush Up, Cliff.
One Summer, When He Was Four Years Old
Your Father Came For A Visit.
Now, Sampson, Every Time
He Would See Your Father, He'd Run Up And Peck Him
On His Shinbone.
Your Daddy Was Scared Of That Duck
And Every Time That Duck Came Near Him
He Would Start Crying And Just Run Away.
Quack, Quack!
Gramtee, Do You Have Any Nice, Young Suitors?
I Thought About
Marrying Again
But I Don't Want To Be Competing With These 75-Year-Old Women.
They Don't Have Any Sense Of Pride.
They Push And Shove
And Show Their Legs.
I've Got To Check The Oven.
I Got A Roast In Here.
Pot Roast?
Yeah.
Gramtee Can't Chew That Stuff.
Heathcliff, Hush Up.
For What?
Keep It Up
And I'll Get That Duck To Come And Get You.
Gramtee Is Amazing, Isn't She, Mom?
She Thinks Clearly, She's Focused.
I Hope I'm Like That When I'm 98.
Sweetheart, I'd Be Happy If You Were Like That At 22.
Gramtee Changed Her Mind.
She'd Like Apple Juice With No Ice.
Okay.
(Phone Ringing)
Hello?
Hi, Kai.
How Are You?
She's Right Here.
It's Kai.
Hello, Doll.
Listen, I Can't Go To The Zoo Tomorrow.
Really?
I'll Ask.
Guess What?
What?
Remember Kai
Was Going To The Zoo?
Yes.
After That
They're Going To Playland.
Olivia, I Know You Want To Go, But We'll Do It Some Other Time.
I Want To Go With Kai.
We'll Take Her When We Go.
I Want To Go Tomorrow.
Olivia, What Did I Say To You
A Half Hour Ago?
I Don't Remember.
Yes, You Do.
You're Not Going To The Zoo Or To Playland.
You're Going To Church With Us Tomorrow.
Say Good-Bye To Kai.
Sorry, Kai.
Denise Says I Can't Go.
Good-Bye.
It Was Fun Living Here Until Now.
What Is This?
A Little Strife In The Kendall Family?
Oh, Yes, I Am Afraid So
But I'm Really Proud
Of The Way I'm Handling It.
She Has To Understand, What I Say Goes.
I Drove That Point Home.
Don't Count That Victory Yet.
You Are Up Against The Ultimate Opponent--
A Determined Child.
She'll Spend The Day
Trying To Figure Out How To Get What She Wants.
She'll Say She's Too Sick To Go To Church
She Has Nothing To Wear.
When You Don't Give In, Olivia Will Have A Tantrum.
No Way.
The Doors Will Slam, Screaming Will Commence
And Tears Will Flow.
Forget It.
Olivia's Never Reacted Like That.
Then I'd Be Ready If I Were You, Because She's Been
Saving It Up.
Now, Gramtee, This Is The Picture Of Me
At The High School Graduation.
Oh, Gramtee...
You Were A Schoolteacher, Weren't You?
Yes.
I Taught Grades One Through Eight
In One Room.
One Room?
That's Right.
You Know, During Slavery, In Some States
It Was Illegal To Teach A Slave To Read.
Illegal To Learn How To Read?
Now Your Great-Great-Great Aunt Lucinda
Grew Up In Slavery
But She Was Determined To Learn To Read.
She Used To Play
With The Owner's Daughters, The Hawthorne Girls.
They Had Tutors.
The Hawthorne Girls Began To Feel Bad
Because They Were Learning To Read
And Lucinda Couldn't.
So After Their Class
They Would Sneak Her Down To The Creek
And Teach Lucinda Everything They Had Learned.
Could Lucinda Have Gotten In Trouble?
Oh, Yes.
She Could Have Been Severely Punished
But That Didn't Scare Her.
She Was Determined To Learn To Read
And After Slavery, She Became A Teacher.
Is That What Inspired You To Teach?
I Guess We Could Say She Was An Inspiration.
There Must Be A Lot Of Lucinda In Me
Because I'm Going To Be A Schoolteacher.
Denise, Oh, You Couldn't Have Given Me Better News.
Oh, Wait A Minute, Now.
Haven't You Dropped Out Of School
Once Already?
Yeah.
Well, You'd Better Not Do That Again.
She Told You, Denise.
And You, Rudy--
I've Heard That Your Performance
In School Is Slipping.
Now You Straighten Up And Fly Right.
Yes, Ma'am.
Gramtee, I'm Doing The Best I Can.
Now, Remember, I Have A Learning Disability.
Well, You Still Got To Work Hard.
I Will, I Promise.
Okay.
Denise?
Yes.
Guess What?
What?
I Have A Stomachache.
Let Me Feel Your Forehead.
You Don't Feel Warm.
I Bet It's Going To Hurt Sunday, Too.
That's Why I Can't Go To Church.
I Think It's The Zoo Flu.
I Think You'll Be Fine.
No, I Won't.
Yes, You Will.
You Ought To Go To Bed Right Now
And Stay There Until We Go To Church.
Wait... I Feel Better.
But I Still Can't Go To Church.
Why Not?
Because I Don't Have Anything Nice To Wear.
You'll Be Wearing Your Pink And Blue Dress
And I Don't Want To Hear Another Thing About It.
But...
Not Another Word.
Cliff: Don't Go In There.
Gramtee's Taking A Nap.
(Stomping Feet)
And No Stomping.
Denise, I'm Impressed.
You Held Firm.
I Feel Terrible.
I Don't Want Her To Be Angry With Me.
Just Make It So They're Not Angry With You Their Whole Life.
When They Get Older, They'll Get Angry
Because You Didn't Get Them Angry When They Were Young...
Then They're Going
To Put You In A Home.
Well...
What A Pleasant Way To Wake Up...
Unless I'm Looking At An Angel In Heaven.
No, It's Me, Olivia.
Come Over Here, Olivia, And Talk To Your Gramtee.
You Look Like You're Worried About Something.
Denise Says You Want Me To Go To Church.
Yes, I Do.
But Kai Invited Me To The Zoo And Playland.
They Have Ponies There.
Well, I Suppose It Wouldn't Hurt
For You To Miss One Sunday In Church.
But I'm Not Going
To Decide For You.
You'll Have To Decide For Yourself.
Okay.
Olivia...
Yes?
I'm Done With My Nap.
Would You Help Me Straighten Up A Bit?
Okay.
Here We Go.
(Humming)
♪ Skip, Skip, Skip To The Barber Shop ♪
♪ I Left My Blanket At The Barber Shop ♪
♪ And Three Sticks Of Candy ♪
♪ One For You And One For Me ♪
♪ One For Sister Sally. ♪
What Are You Singing?
When I Taught School
At The End Of The Day, I Would Always Sing This Song
And Everybody Skipped To Put The Things Away.
Can I Try It?
Of Course.
♪ Skip, Skip To The Barber Shop ♪
♪ I Left My Blanket At The Barber Shop ♪
♪ And Three Pieces Of Candy ♪
♪ One For You ♪
♪ One For Me ♪
♪ And One For Sister Sally. ♪
That Was Fun!
Oh, Yes, It Was.
Gramtee?
Yes, Baby.
I'll Go To Church With You.
Oh, You Precious.
That Was A Delicious Dinner.
Thank You.
I Think It's Time We Cleared The Table.
What's The Rush?
This Is When You Bring In
The Birthday Cake.
I Don't Know Anything About A Birthday Cake.
I Know You Got Me A Birthday Cake--
A Chocolate Birthday Cake.
Chocolate Is My Favorite Flavor.
You Were Supposed To Get This Cake At My Father's.
This Is My Birthday
And You're Supposed To Have A Cake For Me.
I Don't Want To Argue With Somebody Your Age
But This Is My House, And There Is No Cake For You.
I Have A Strong Hand.
Now, I Want My Cake.
I Knew It.
Happy Birthday!
I Knew You Had A Cake For Me.
Oh!
Minister: Before We Conclude, I Have The Special Privilege
Of Introducing A Lovely Person
A Very Special Guest.
This Lady Has Worked For Many Years As An Educator.
So Please Join Me In Wishing A Happy Birthday
To Harriet Mccutcheon, Otherwise Known As Gramtee
Who Has Come From Norfolk, Virginia
To Be With Us.
And, Gramtee, We Have A Very Special Tribute For You.
Welcome.
(Slow, Modern Gospel Music)
♪ Hmmm ♪
♪ Oh, How You Are ♪
♪ Well ♪
♪ Hmmm ♪
♪ Wholy Holy ♪
♪ Come Together ♪
♪ Holy ♪
♪ People, We All Have Got To Come Together ♪
♪ 'Cause We Need The Strength ♪
♪ The Power ♪
♪ And All, All The... ♪
♪ The Feeling ♪
♪ Sure Enough The Feeling ♪
♪ Wholy Holy ♪
♪ Get Together ♪
♪ One Another ♪
♪ Wholy Holy ♪
♪ We Should Believe ♪
♪ Believe In One Another ♪
♪ Jesus Left A Long Time Ago ♪
♪ Said He Would Return ♪
♪ But He Left Us A Book To Believe In ♪
♪ He Left Us A Good Book Here ♪
♪ And In It We Got A, We Got A ♪
♪ A Whole, Whole, Whole Lot To Learn ♪
♪ Whole Lot To Learn ♪
♪ Holy ♪
♪ Oh, Lord ♪
♪ We Can Conquer ♪
♪ We Can Conquer Hate Forever ♪
♪ Oh, Yeah ♪
♪ Holy ♪
♪ We Can ♪
♪ We Will Have Love ♪
♪ Have Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, Love ♪
♪ Love To Love ♪
♪ Make Love Our Salvation ♪
♪ If We Come Together ♪
♪ If We Just Love One Another ♪
♪ Love, Love ♪
♪ Love, Love, Love, Love ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Wholy Holy ♪
♪ Wholy, Hey, Oh, Holy ♪
♪ Oh, Yeah, Oh ♪
♪ We Can Conquer ♪
♪ We Will Love ♪
♪ Our Salvation ♪
♪ Yes, We Will ♪
♪ Keep On Walking With The Lord ♪
♪ Walk With Me, Jesus ♪
♪ Talk With Me, Jesus ♪
♪ Move With Me, Jesus ♪
♪ Your Spirit ♪
♪ Send Your Spirit Down With Me, Lord ♪
♪ Help Me Put My Feet Down ♪
♪ Hey, Walking With The Lord ♪
♪ Talking With The Lord ♪
♪ Can't You See Us Just Singing And Shouting With The Lord ♪
♪ Wholy Holy ♪
♪ Yeah, Yeah, Hey ♪
♪ Holy ♪
♪ Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah ♪
♪ Holy. ♪
Oh, Yeah.
Thank You.