Grandma Struggles With Prejudice

The whole purpose of Everybody Has A Story is to hold a mirror to society - to show us who we really are. And like any mirror, the story CBS News Ccrrespondent Steve Hartman found in Litchfield, Conn., shows us, warts and all.

Geraldine Spring was the one who answered Hartman's call and she is quite an open book.

"I tell it like it is," she says. "And it's not really good to do it either. You can make enemies that way, too."

Pointing at one of the pictures displayed over her TV set, she says, "That's my grandson Travis, my favorite."

And yet Geraldine does have one thing to hide: It's a picture you won't find on display - a picture of her granddaughter's husband. It is a picture that embarrasses Geraldine so much; she keeps it buried in a drawer.

"I couldn't frame that," she says. "It's a shame the way things go, but that's the way they go."

Shannon and her husband Dan Jenkins live a couple hours east and about four decades ahead of Grandma Geraldine. Shannon is a stay-at home mom and Dan owns a karate studio.

"I don't look at the color of his skin and think I'm with a black man," Shannon says. "I think I'm with a good man. And I'm happy, so she should be happy."

Despite his black belt, Dan says, so far at least, he's only tried killing Geraldine with kindness.

He says, "I guess it didn't work with her grandma, but I tried. I tried."

Geraldine, for her part, admits, "He was very nice. He was nice to me at Christmas time, couldn't be better."

Fact is, Geraldine can't point out one thing she doesn't like about Dan outside of his out-side. She worries about the kids, but her reasons make no sense - not even to her.

Geraldine explains, "See these kids are…um…what's that got to do with the…what's skin color got to do with it? I don't want to be like that at all, but I've learned to accept it now. And I love her children and I send them a birthday card and everything. And I'll eventually get over it. But if I told you today I'm all over it, that would be a lie."

It's rare to hear anyone speak with such candor. And whether she ever changes or not, her family has already set racism on that irreversible course: from prejudice to tolerance and tolerance to irrelevance.