A Great Lady

All of us hope that our choices and our actions will make a little sweeter those rooms we enter, those worlds we move through, those lives we touch, those people and places we leave behind us. It is, in a way, our small gesture toward immortality, our little message to the universe. It says, “I was here”, to the ages.

Gloria Vanderbilt

She sat on a large, quilted, leather bench with a high back. In front of her was a small table she used to autograph books. It was a fund raising event and the boutique I managed was taking part in it. One of my employees wanted to have his photo taken with her. During a moment when she was not busy, I asked her if she would agree to being photographed with the young man. She smiled and patted the seat next to her. I might mention this guy was very good looking which I’m sure didn’t hurt his cause. Even in her eighties, she was still a femme fatale.

This elegant woman at the table was GloriaVanderbilt. She was autographing her latest book. A small, somewhat racy, autobiography about her love life. I remember reading she had been asked about writing the book, at her age. She didn’t see what age had to do with it . Neither do I.

I first met her, several years earlier, at small cocktail party during a launch of her fragrance. I remember being impressed by how kind and gracious she was. Her life was not always easy, however it seemed that she was able to rise above the tragedy and live a happy, creative life. Aging didn’t stop her. She continued to be a great lady until her death at 95.

When I think about the inspirational women of my life, she comes to mind. In a time when as we become older we are devalued, she refused to be diminished.