Mary Huntley, Janna Morgan, Retta Dykstra and I just returned from an unforgettable four day trip. We were invited to present a version of Silly and Sacred Stories of Blue Garter Friends that we call "Friendships to Remember; A Lesson in the Importance of Friendship in the Aging Process." Our audiences were the women of the N Street Village Homeless Center in Washington DC and the students and adjacent community of Anne Arundel Community College near-by in Arnold, Maryland. It was also a book signing event.
Two very different socioeconomic communities, two very different ethnic neighborhoods each responded as a unified village of caring, thoughtful kinship when encouraged to connect through the loving memories and the humor projected by our book.
I was reminded of the quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, pioneering aviator, author, wife of Charles Lindbergh. "The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now."
This unsolicited testimonial greeted me as I opened my email back at home on Monday morning, "It (your presentation) was lovely...sometimes it is so easy getting wrapped up in all the minutia of daily life...but this was an opportunity to hear and learn from those who came before us...simply touching!"
The first printing of Amazing Attributes of Aging; Silly and Sacred Stories of Blue Garter Friends is nearly sold out. Where are we going next with this project?
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