She never locks the door unless she’s home alone at night. It’s like a point of pride with her. She’s never locked the door – people can just come and go. “I’m just not worried about that” she says when pressed. When we explain about our own locks, security cameras, and alarm and private security systems, she squints her eyes as if to say, “How do you live in all that fear? What fun is that?” So her doors stay open and she walks in and out with liberty as she’s done for the last seven decades of her life.
She adopts antiques – some people collect, but not her. She embraces them like family. And not just dusty old remnants of little import. She goes for the good stuff. The 17th and 18th centuries are her sweet spot – much later than that is just too modern. Each piece carries a story, a hymn of days gone by. Of women in candle-lit parlors playing games on ornate card tables made just for that purpose, while their men smoke and pontificate senselessly about power in another room. Of naturalists, botanists, and ornithologists capturing life in delicate sketches and documenting the new world one detail at a time. Of intricate terrines and dainty teacups hand-painted in far off places by a work force who would never be free. These artifacts she knows personally and recounts their tales as if they were her own. She embodies their legacy.
She floats through her kitchen in simple and profound ways. She proudly displays a set of vintage brass mercantile scales over her sink – justice, fairness, truth. On the counter she prepares autumn-spiced waffles from a recipe hand-written by her mother. Perhaps today we’ll taste Dutch Puffs created using methods handed down over generations. No recipe needed for that one – she knows the proportions by heart – 1 egg, ¼ cup flour, ¼ cup milk. Mix until frothy. She loves the way that word sounds as she speaks it. Her laughter and wisdom are a warm blanket that protects us all. She cooks for herself, but she nourishes us all – she nourishes posterity. She has no intention of shifting the recipe for the capricious demands of modernity. She is a purist – a dedicated anthropologist of food and people.
She has a foot in the past, but she knows that we are only as strong as the knowledge we offer our youngest generations and the discoveries they will bring. She teaches the children and she teaches the teachers. It’s her calling to seeks out the curious mind, the misunderstood mind – the mind that most adults would over-look or feel is too untamed. Those young minds are her goldmine. Perhaps she was over-looked as a young girl – she doesn’t say – but her compassion for these diverse learning styles is other worldly. She loves each one, remembers each one, and works to create a system where each can thrive wild and free.
She articulates both sides of any conflict because she knows that the truth is in the middle. She bridges gaps, she holds up an honest mirror, she doesn’t back away from hard facts. Sturdy and balanced, she plants her stake into the fertile ground of love and rejects the bewitching pull of fear and hate. She leads with understanding – connects with love – guides with honesty.
She is boldly her own woman. She is an unwavering and loyal mother, grandmother, and friend. Forged in both grace and pain, she is triumphant in her strength, beauty, and pragmatism. She is wise. She knows that life treats each person with some degree of whimsy. She accepts that things might not be glamorous or even rational sometimes. The beautiful and the terrible, she finds meaning in it all through her deep faith in her maker…and, if we are allowed to look deeper, through her transcendent understanding of the universe. It will all work out as it should.
She stands at the apex of history and the present moment. She knows the power of the pen, the honor of service, the divinity of family. She reminds us that life is pretty good when you take the time each day for a cup of tea, an interesting novel, a walk with your neighbor, and a good hot bath before bed. She is love, she is faith, she is story, she is guide.
And she always leaves the doors unlocked to invite you inside to bask in it all.
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