Jackie Brooks — “Make Do”

I first sat down with Jackie Brooks’ at her dining table in December of 2015, and oh my goodness her holiday cookies! Our cozy sessions had a quiet feeling, with lots of long pauses between sparkling memories of childhood and raising a family, and a deep love of farming. Jackie is a master baker, quilter, gardener, and so much more. After our first couple of sessions, I shared that she struck me as a person who really likes to make things. “Everything was make do, you know,” she responded. By the next week, the refrain, “Make Do” had been turning over and over in my mind—the pleasure of making the most with what you have, resilience. When I described it to her, she said simply “That’s me!"

Jackie’s song was part of the “Unsung Heroes” concert honoring elder farmers. A collaboration between SageArts and the Rondout Valley Growers Association, it featured local high school students singing background vocals and special guest musicians.

  • © Kelleigh McKenzie with Jackie Brooks

    Riding in the wagon to the red milk barn
    A barefoot girl on a Kyserike farm in June
    Smelling those Sweet William blossoms
    Strip out the cows while they're putting in the hay
    Feed the chickens and play, jumping down the chutes
    The summer night sky falls
    Father walking, showing the stars to look for
    Felt so rich, we didn't know we were poor

    Make do, make do
    A little cardboard in my shoe
    Kept the mud from coming through
    Make do, make do
    You cultivate a graceful view
    When you make do

    Stone Ridge square dance, Barringer's band
    The apple pie queen met a city boy and
    Got to stitching a pretty patchwork life
    Substitute teaching in a homemade dress
    Planting flower beds, raising sons to listen
    Tell ‘em "you like cold soup"
    Room by room fixing the house up just so
    Stenciling walls to make it feel like times of old

    Make do, make do
    A little cardboard in my shoe
    Kept the mud from coming through
    Make do, make do
    You cultivate a graceful view
    When you make do

    Bandits stealing berries from the tree
    I watch from the window and let the memories take me back
    Miss that big old house
    Towing grandkids in the wagon as I mow
    Thread my needle and sew
    I meet my Thursday morning coffee ladies
    All my boys love farming like my father long ago
    They got second jobs to keep a herd of their own

    Make do, Make do
    A little cardboard in my shoe
    Kept the mud from coming through
    Make do, make do
    You cultivate a graceful view
    When you make do

    I trust in god, my life unfolds
    Like a mystery quilt never knowing where it all leads to
    And I make do

“America, I Am” quilt by Jackie Brooks