Today is Inspiration Wednesday at
WEAVER OF GRASS I just discovered Weaver from
ELIZABETH’S blog. Elizabeth is a wonderful photographer and writer and is Mum to
BUSTER, who has a great blog of his own.
I visit Buster’s blog each morning hoping for a new post. He makes me smile. He has a very earnest face and a wonderful way of describing his adventures. He is also a fine spokesdog for adopting.
So with Buster in mind I thought about inspiration.
I’m inspired by people who are kind and fair minded. Especially when they are kind with no expectation of getting anything in return.
And so I thought of people who care for and are advocates for animals. And Betty White immediately came to mind …
In addition to all her work with animals Betty inspires me to acknowledge that age is but a number. She is sexy and feisty, funny and clever.
As always thoughts of feisty, funny, clever women lead me to my Nana …
She’d kill me if I said she was sexy but I do vividly recall one of my uncles saying that my Grandfather told a story of young Nana dancing in the café after a day of swimming. He said her hair was long and still wet and she laughed as drops of water flew off her hair as she danced.
I love to imagine that since her hair was a sore spot with older Nana. She hair sprayed it into submission and hated how unruly it was. Which was funny since she always told me to leave my hair alone. It was very red and very wavy and frizzed at the hint of humidity. Some awful girl in school told me I had “ugly Jewish hair”. Nana laughed and laughed at that, and then she cursed a bit in Yiddish and then gave me one of her pearls of wisdom talks.
”Dee-an-hah” – that’s how she said my name when she was in full Russian mode – “how can hair be Jewish? I read that Elvis Presley sounds black. What is that? Hair doesn’t have a religion and voices don’t have a color. That girl is probably repeating something her mother said. I know that woman, she is stupid. She refuses to speak to me at the butcher shop. Good I say – I have no time for stupid. Your hair is fine; being Jewish is your problem.”
All these years later I can still feel the look of shock on my face. Nana had nothing comforting to say?
”What?” she asked, “you want me to lie to you? No you don’t, I never lie to you Dee-an-hah, you’re too smart for lies. That girl’s mother does not like Jewish people and her daughter is following her. It is not about your hair. It is not about you. It is about her. Know that and you will always be able to deal with people like that. I feel sorry for that girl; her mother is making her life small and dark.”
And then Nana set my hair in giant rollers so that it would be long and smooth and flowing the next day.
There is much stress and drama these days within the family circle.
And the world? Oy! where to begin? Nana would have said.
I am so very grateful to be inspired by Nana to be feisty and funny and clever. And kind.
And as always, there is Hope …
Inspiration Wednesday will flow nicely into Positive Friday. Please click the badge on the sidebar to check it out.
And do visit Weaver and Elizabeth and Buster.
