The indomitable spirit of a five-foot-one chauffeur

Hi Marty!  I’m just about to go into a music rehearsal and wanted to get my post done beforehand.  I was having trouble with it because so much is going on I couldn’t focus.  But then a little vignette about my great grandmother popped into my head and I thought I’d run with it.  So here goes ...

Often people who know me have commented on my resilience and my ability to find the positive in any situation. And I guess, when I look at it from their perspective, I can see why they might say that.  I can’t imagine being any other way. During a brief visit with my Mom and Dad earlier this week, I connected to a deep understanding of where my outlook on life came from ... and it goes way back. 

One of my fondest recollections of my great grandmother (after whom I’m named, and no, her name is not Buns!) is of her, in a bathing suit, standing on the end of a diving board preparing for a head-first plunge into the lake.  She was in her nineties. Next, my grandmother, Katie-girl, who lived to the ripe old age of 100 because she said she was going to, did volunteer work for many charitable organizations well into her nineties.

Next in line ... my Mom.  A formidable force in her mid seventies, she is a constant inspiration to me.  This woman knows how to make lemonade out of lemons.  She always has at least one philanthropic project on the go, sits on a number of committees, keeps tabs on her five children (she had all of us before she was 26), and her 10 grandchildren and at the same time takes very good care of my Dad.  Now in his eighties, while still compos mentis, he has physical challenges that require a lot of support from her.  As far as that home-made lemonade I was talking about?  When he was told he couldn’t drive any more by his doctor, my Mom immediately said, “Well aren’t you lucky?  From now on you will have your own limo driver.”  And she even bought a chauffeur’s hat to wear! And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  I could write pages about her kindnesses to others and her capacity to love.  Thanks Mom.  I owe you one.

And as for me?  I’m pretty sure I was her “difficult” child but she would never let on.  What she did do (and continues to do) is accept me for who I am, and love me no matter what.  She taught me what unconditional love looks like and feels like.

Speaking of love, it feels as though I am waking up in the middle of my own love story.  In just a few hours, I will be seeing Robert for the second time in as many decades. We have had many hours of conversation over the past few months and we are both looking forward to some face time.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I can’t wait for you to meet him!