If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?

“Cow manure. The farm. Animals. Cows. Horses. That was part of my growing up – animal smells.  We still have cattle and I love them. I want my grandkids to know what a cow is and physically touch it and see it. We’ve got three grandkids, and each of them have a cow. The first one we had to dye purple. She’s 9 now, but when she was 2, all she wanted for Christmas was a purple cow. So, we got a young heifer, she was white, and we sprayed her purple and gave it to her. That was her Christmas present. She got her purple cow.” – Stephanie McAvoy of Springville

McAvoy wants to instill what she learned from farm life into her grandchildren.

“That they have to work. It requires work. They look forward to coming here and climb hay bales and play in the hay or go to the creek.”

Stephanie McAvoy loves using flowers to lift the spirits of others. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

McAvoy owns Nee’s Flower Market and loves what she does.

“We really do counseling. You just find all different types of people, and some might be having a bad day, a sad day, and we’re there to comfort them and to just tell them we’re praying for you our we’re thinking of you. We’re here for sad times and happy times.”

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.