ingénue

We convened in the Heartland last weekend to celebrate the birthday of one of the most energetically spry 80-year-olds you are apt to come across – my mother, Shirley. Her image above is blurred, due to the speed at which she tends to move. She swears she can still turn cartwheels, although we have discouraged her from proving it. She also types at warp speed and regrets that we insist she wear shoes during one of her very favorite pastimes: mowing the lawn.

Her signature “lounging” position is known in aikido as “seiza” – legs folded neatly under the body, feet curved, forming a configuration for the seat, almost like sitting in a saddle. It is a position of readiness – from there, the Samurai would spring into action. Many aikidoists practice for years, hoping that their joints will soften and release enough for them to sit this way comfortably. My mother has always found it a perfectly natural way to be -- in her easy chair, watching the news or working a crossword puzzle, even spending the good part of an afternoon, on a hard wooden dock at the lake, engrossed in a good book.

Growing up on a farm during the Depression, we know that she was considered a “tomboy”, preferring to work outside or in the barn rather than staying in the house baking or learning embroidery. Her own mother did it all – from crocheting gossamer tablecloths to husking field corn and driving a team of horses pulling the threshing machine (each of my grandmothers will receive a dedicated entry, soon to follow).

My mom was a career woman from the age of 18. She always worked fulltime, effectively employed with the same law firm for over 60 years, raised three daughters, and served for 25 years on the Town Board – among various other activities! It seems she is finally adjusting somewhat, after a year of “retirement” (albeit with a part-time job), starting to mention that she would like to volunteer with the area homeless shelter and tutor children in reading.

So I thought I would share this photo snapped at the birthday dinner – how appropriate that I caught her with that other famous ingénue, Audrey. Her youthful spirit inspires me and, hopefully, her genetic gifts will serve me well, as I seem to pursue avocations traditionally considered domains of the young. Let’s see . . . youth is wasted on the young, you are only as old as you feel, it’s just a number, life begins at (fill in the blank), as fine as wine, long in the tooth (this last one comes from horses and denotes wisdom as well as age). All clichés aside, let’s just say that Shirley is irrepressibly young at heart.