BEAUTY AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE 04/30/01

Subj:[women] Mindwalkers - beauty as far as the eye could see
Date:4/30/01 10:14:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time

I made a return trip to the Society Building last night. On Saturday, I enjoyed "Iolanthe." Last night, I was moved - once more - by Theta Alpha International's annual banquet honoring the ANC Girls' School seniors.

I did not stay for the banquet or the presentation of special gifts (designed and hand-made by women within the community), we just went up so I could see this year's tables. Every year for the past five or so years each table is decorated and fully set by individual women. The effect is stunning.

Uh oh ~ I get ahead of myself.

Since we were staying for a short time - just long enough for me to see the tables - Elsa parked curbside,smack dab in front of the entry way. The handrails and the posts were decorated with beautiful flowers, included boughs of pink crab apple blossoms.

As we started walking toward the doors, Nita Holmes came up and kindly took my other arm - I felt like the Queen Mary being docked by two very attractive tug boats.

As we were about to go in, I smelled something heavenly on my right. There was a huge bush of verbena. It was otherworldly, it smelled so luscious. It reminded me of Emilie Asplundh, who gave me a bottle of Floris of London's Verbena Eau du Cologne. Verbena always brings Emilie to mind, because of its scent and its natural elegance.

The foyer was decorated with flower-strewned swags and drifts of illusion. It was beautiful. The very first person I saw was Shannon Stevens, looking lovely in her bridesmaid's gown and straw boater from Erin's wedding. (Ladies were invited to wear hats. since the theme this year was a garden party.) Even though Elsa was standing right next to me and I was holding her hand for balance, looking at Shannon dressed as she was made me think of my baby in the same outfit - the same dress hangs in Elsa's closet and the same boater graces her bedroom wall, since she was also one of Erin's bridesmaids (and John was one of Chris' groomsmen).

Of course, it also made me think of Erin and what a happy day that was. It was my first outing after surgery removed an infected kidney. I did not think I was going to make it to the wedding; I had my doubts, but not Erin. She just said, "You'll be there." - and I was.

I remember a pre-wedding event at Pete & Louise's. I was in the living room, trying to open the glass door to go out onto the deck, where Erin was sitting. I could not get the door to budge. Then, one of the little kids came running through the room, threw open the door and tore out onto the deck. Marvin Stevens, Pete's father, looked at the now open door and looked at me and intoned, "And a little child shall lead them."

Oh my, I am completely off track from last night's celebration. I have not even gotten all the way in the door. Well, as soon as I did, it felt like I was a one-woman reception line. So many people came up to say hello. I was very touched by Pauline Boyce, who commented on how much she enjoys reading my postings on Caritas. (It often surprises me when people comment about what I write - I write for the writing and the reading of it is a byproduct that sometimes - perhaps foolishly - slips my mind.)

I cannot remember what the entryway to the Society Room looked like; I guess I entered the room as if in a trance. There were flowers all over, beautiful flowers, and in front of me was a roomful of women, young and old, many of whom I knew and many I had never seen before. It was a treat to see the seniors wearing the name tags that Elsa made - now it can be told, with a tiny garden bonnet on each tag.

Looking back, it felt as if I floated from table to table, all with a floral theme.

There was every type of place setting, from Wedgewood to paper plates. I remember the table decorated by Joralyn Echols' family - a wonderfully whimsical and colorful paper bouquet centerpiece, paper plates, the whole she-bang in paper. I recall beautiful lanterns, one with candlelight shining out through intricate wrought-iron vines and one on Beaty Childs' table with what looked like rice paper with dragon flies on it. Exquisite.

My favorite was the table set for Lori Soneson Odhner's daughter - it had a scene as the centerpiece, a white picket fence with a figure in a white dress at the gate; best of all, the tablecloth was a quilt that Lori, who lives in California and was not able to get here for the banquet, sent specifically for that purpose. Maybe it meant so much to me since Lori was such a prominent part of this past fall's
women's weekend and I enjoyed hearing her talk about her quilting.

So many women came up to give me a hug or say hello - of course, Margaret York Gladish (Girls' School headmistress), Sandra Odhner, Rachel Odhner, Kaye Lermitte, Beaty, Liz Childs, Claire Walter, Kim Dunlap, the "Echols" ladies, Jane Henderson, Judy Hyatt, Louise Gardam... and many more I forget at this moment.

Three women especially stand out in my mind - Linda Klein, whom I have not seen in many moons and who is very special to me, and Laurie Klein - blessings on Laurie, who made sure to snap a picture of Linda, Elsa and myself. How kind and thoughtful. I also had the chance to have a short gab with Esther Yardumian-Smythe, a gal so dear to my heart.

Well, the ladies started taking their seats and someone was talking at the microphone, so we took our cue to leave. We stopped to admire a charming little pond on our way out the foyer, when Elsa stopped, turned me around and wheeled us both back to the doorway leading into the banquet room.

I had not a clue why, since I could not make out what what the woman was saying. Elsa seemed to be waiting for something. Then, it came.

The women, stretched out in front of my, started singing the grace, "Humbly, Lord, We Ask Thy Blessing." What a moment - again, otherworldly. The sphere from the women in the room, from the beautiful decorations, from the love that went into the gifts that were displayed so we could see them before they were presented later in the evening, from the caring with which the evening's meal was crafted - the sphere lifted me up and up and up. It was a moment to hold in my heart forever.

There are a lot of things that I cannot do any more. I wish I had Eva Henderson's stamina (those Swedes are wonders) or Linda Klein's, both of whom are older than I am and both of whom can still manage to stay for all of Saturday's operetta (Eva went twice) or last night's celebration.

I focus, though, on what I can do.

Even if I cannot stand in front of the room and be part of the group welcoming the Seniors with a special song - which I actually did two or three celebrations ago - or serve as a dresser backstage for a B-Act production - which I did at least once (but cannot for the life of me remember which play; it will probably come to me at 3:00 a.m), well, I can still experience at least some of it, which a lot of people my age cannot do.

I focus on being able to stand there, hearing that angelic throng of women - mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, loved ones, and the young women of the Senior Class - singing that beautiful blessing and standing with my arm tucked through Elsa's ... I focus on the beauty that I saw as far as my eye could see and I feel blessed beyond meaure.

Keep us, Father, in Thy care ~
Katharine Reynolds Lockhart, Class of '28