Playing catch-up with a month-long tribute on my Facebook page to some of the awesome females who have & who still do touch my life in ways too fabulous to unfold in words. The reasons will be varied, but the admiration will be consistently over the top. To date, they include (starting with the first):
EMILIE K. ASPLUNDH ~ being with emilie always connected me with my best self. that is a great gift. a gracious lady, hilarious friend, still a wonderful role model for always doing all you can with all you have.
JENNIE GASKILL ~ 04/02's unforgettable woman was Miss Jennie to me, my 1st grade teacher. although one of my oldest teachers (i think she was older than miss erna), miss jennie always seemed young, filled with refreshing enthusiasm, especially teaching about nature. and, for her era, she was remarkable hip about human nature, too.
WHITNEY LOCKHART SIDDONS 04/03 ~ today's awesomeness - my niece, Whitney Lockhart Siddons. Smart as a whip, deeply creative, focused on what needs doing to maintain healthy balance, quite remarkable mother, inspired wife, praise-worthy for how she & Chad continue to develop/nurture/maintain the little family on Dalton Road, wonderful role model for her admiring aunt
JOYCE COOPER 04/04 ~ "Aunt" Joyce never treated me like a kid, always like an interesting friend. In my mid-teens, she teamed up with Mom to take me to the Pub Tiki for dinner, followed by my very first opera - Carmen. What bliss!
TASHA TUDOR 04/05 ~ an early lesson (I was in my early 20s when we first met) of a creative woman teamed with a superb businessperson & project manager (as witnessed by her farm). And totally unsentimental about her work, which I continue to find an important trait for a balanced life.
ELSA Asplundh ACTON 04/06 ~ blessed to have her lilting spirit & lyrical soul part of my life since forever!
MIM LOCKHART 04/07 ~ my older sister, is celebrating her 67th! in spite of 8 years between us, mim has & continues to illuminate my understanding & expand my life experiences in ways impossible to express in mere words. "numerous felicitations on the anniversary of your birth!"
MYRA Johns ASPLUNDH 04/08 ~ From opening her home to her kids' classmates & friends to opening up our small hometown to the larger world, Myra is - quietly, yet most definitely - beyond epic. that rare being ~ a paradigm shifter.
ELAINE Synnestvedt ASPLUNDH 04/09 ~ a genuine Earth Mother, Elaine is a living expression of the delightful saying, "She has children in her head!"; she's touched so many lives directly, untold more indirectly. Puts the "awe" in awesomeness!!
MEGAN ASPLUNDH 04/10 ~ another rare world-touching, paradigm-shifting woman. grace, humor, intelligence, action, open heart.... sharing pertinent adjectives would take way more than 320 characters & spaces. from being a student founder of the valley youth center to bringing vaishali to our neck of the woods, megan's all about opening up every aspect of our being. beyond, way beyond awesome.
VAISHALI 04/11 ~ with colorful clarity, joyous insights & a great smile/laugh, vaishali (way-shawl-lee), my spiritual bff/sister, can express with vibrancy & verve (& a bit of help from bugs bunny) deep spiritual teachings in ways that open mind & heart. beyond awesome!!
EMILY JANE Asplundh LEMOLE 04/12 ~ I’ve never been able to fathom how Janie seems to be able to look into my soul & know which books to share with me that will turn my face toward the spiritual sun, but am forever grateful that she does. I hope that I can be in some way, shape or form the woman i see reflected back at me from Janie's face.
ELIZABETH ASHBY 04/13 ~ was the very first epic woman i ever met. was just a very little girl when "miss ashby" - who lived where sig & judy now - would call out, "lassie, would you come up" to visit her for a bit. if i could capture in words her spirit, the presence that surrounded her as soon i drew near to her, i'd be the most gifted of writers. those who were privileged to know her understand.
NINA Glebe FINKLEDAY 04/14 ~ what can i say? wherever she goes, nina leaves art in her footsteps.
BETTY MOREY 04/15 ~ betty's energy level puts adults 1/3 her age to shame, she's got fingers in an awesome number of "pies" PLUS she raised some utterly terrific-in-their-own-right kids!!
PHOEBE BOSTOCK 04/16 ~ "miss phoebe" was already fairly ancient when i cleaned her house. miss phoebe reinforced lessons learned re: value of doing a good job for its own sake, shared tales of people & events from earlier generations (she knew everything & everyone), and gave me - in her stories & respect - a fresh image of a grandfather i never met.
BENITA Acton ODHNER 04/17 ~ although confined to bed in her later years to bed, due to severe bone disease, "aunt" benita's room was a gathering spot for bryn athyn's most interesting characters & scintillating minds. i admired her intelligence, youthful spirit & sense of the absurd. for a woman confined to bed, to me "aunt" benita seemed beyond limits.
FLEUR 04/18 ~ a feline femme, fleur - the shyest of our cats - rarely lets us stroke, let alone groom, her mat-attracting medium-long coat. but when mats develop, she changes attitude, becoming docile. this a.m., she stayed utterly calm as i attended to mats near her face. wish i acted so wisely doing things i dislike but are in my best interests!
drum roll, please... behold the most epic of epic women in my life - KATHARINE Reynolds LOCKHART aka Mom (also Mum-Nan-Gocky-Aunt Kay-Grammie Kay-Grammie-Gramster-Cybergram-Grandma L-Mindwalker1910...) 04/19 ~ My #1 cheerleader & #1 nemesis ~ and #1 courageous woman I've ever known. In just over 2 years, we identified & faced our core issues (even if we fell short resolving most). Entirely due to Mom.
a dynamic duo - my great-aunt, Aunt MARGorie LOCKHART, and her sister, MOLLY WALLACE 04/20 ~ 2 widows who epitomized hip chicks!! they wrapped us in love & great times whenever we visited their big house up on the bluff above brady's bend. quick witted & fun loving, they embodied Auntie Mame's advice to LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! (they hopped bus tours hither & yon well into their 80s!!)
KATHY KELLER 04/21 ~ Kathy always carves out space in her work places to spotlight area artists, taking many from novice to noticed to known. the current art show ~ "barnyard animals" ~ at graphic imaging is reminiscent of the ones mounted at mixed media, the art supply store she owned in d-town. kathy sensed an artist spirit in me when i didn't take it seriously & gave me room (literally) to make it so.
EILEEN GLENN 04/22 ~ through her encouragement to participate on the theta alpha international exec board, she helped open up a level of community activity i'd never considered, had never been suggested. through our gabs at santiago's, she opened up my mind & spirit at a time that i needed it A LOT. right woman, right place, right time.
CINDY Hyatt WALKER 04/23 ~ at 7, my 11-year old sib was killed. in ‘59, people ignored such things. i was left dangling, psychologically self-destructive yet mega pleasant ~ adults bought the attitude, ignored the pain. until 7th grade & cindy. she saw ME. changed everything.
SUZANNE BERNHARDT 04/24 ~ looking around pendleton hall & brickman center, i see "suzanne on steroids" ~ suzanne was, in my experience, the 1st to soften the austere college building, the 1st to make the commons area actually welcoming (no small feat!). as a educator, suzanne played a paradigm-shifting role in producing theatricals; as a dean, she made changes that created a lasting impact.
LINDA Simonetti ODHNER 04/25 - twins deep intelligence with deep passion for thought. linda lays out her loves for the rest of us to play with, should we so desire. when i'm with linda, i feel like MY intelligence shoots up. lso sparks my intellectual curiosity & thirst for deeper knowledge; she lobs spheres of fascinating thoughts at me, with full trust i can adroitly serve them right back to her.
ANNE D'HARNONCOURT, ERNESTA BALLARD & JANE PEPPER 04/26 ~ google any one of the three & you'll see why these iconic civic leaders (director/ceo of the philadelphia art museum & two past presidents of the pennsylvania horticultural society) touched my life in ways impossible to describe. jane influenced me, ernesta inspired me, but anne - anne infused my psychic plasma with glory.
CANDACE Nelson ZEIGLER 04/27 ~ impossible to overstate the impact candy had & continues to have on every level of my life. candy's achieved beyond-the-beyond success on so many levels of her own life by seeing the personal & professional opportunities in front of her and, without fuss or fanfare, acting on them. forever blessed by her friendship. so much in my heart that simply can't translate into mere words.
EUNICE "Mom" ZEIGLER 04/28 ~ the only thing the two of us had in common when we first met was a deep love of her son & daughter-in-law, yet from that first meeting to today, she's made me feel part of her close-knit, supportive family. we might not see each other for decades, but when we do the welcoming wrap of connection is right there. "mom" z gave me something i didn't know i yearned for - a sense of welcomed belonging. truly awesome.
BERYL cranch SIMONETTI 04/29 ~ just recently, the insights & good counsel of this quietly remarkable woman served as capstone to my 35 years of consciously striving to develop a stronger sense of inner calm, integrity & alignment. impossible to describe what i mean and impossible to sufficiently convey my thanks to beryl for helping create a space where the pieces could finally fall together.
KAREN CAVANAUGH 04/30 ~ the final fab femme in the spotlight is my keystone, karen provides a sweet friendship, unvarnished honesty, mirthful humor and shoe-shopping expertise that helps me keep my life together. wednesday eves + starbucks + karen = increased clarity & confidence!
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