BRAVISSIMA, ALMA!
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS in Italiano!
Infine, i miei amici Italiani, "Il Cuore di Tutte le Così" è arrivato!
Spero che vi piacherà!
Sono grata! Tante grazie!
Liz
Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
Look what book they just finished restocking when we arrived at the Garibaldi Train station in Milano! I love the Italian cover, bellissimo, Bella Liz!
AUNT LOLLY — football coach.
Ok, today is officially Aunt Lolly Appreciation Day on this Facebook page (see my earlier post from this morning) so I had to share just one more thing: This photo of Lolly from 1960, back when she was the coach of a boy's football team in Maryland.
#BadAss!!!
She had discovered that the local public school didn't have a physical education budget, so she volunteered to take it over herself, and started a football program. She'd grown up playing football all summer and ice hockey all winter with her brother (my grandfather) so it was No Big Deal.
Because that's how Lolly rolls.
(Do enjoy the fashion combo of tweed coat, sneakers and helmet. She's like a lady Bear Bryant.)
Onward!
LG
MY HERO.
Yesterday I flew to North Carolina to spend some time with my great Aunt Lolly — my grandfather's sister — who is 93 years old and pretty much the most wonderful person I know.
I stayed up till 1am with her, literally sitting at her feet while she told me stories and made me laugh. She's vibrant, hilarious, generous, strong and earthy (at one point she killed a mosquito and said, "Holy shit! I got the little son of a bitch!" — so if you wonder where I got my mouth, there's a piece of evidence!)
Most of all, Lolly is ferociously optimistic. I have written on this page before about "stubborn gladness" — a term I picked up from the poet Jack Gilbert, who wrote that we must have the stubbornness to hold our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.
Stubborn gladness doesn't mean that you are happy when things go well; it means that you fight your way to the light in ALL circumstances — and, at 93, Lolly has been through ALL circumstances, believe me. She still stands in the light of stubborn gladness. You don't get a bright grinning face like that unless you've earned it.
Her greatest wish now, she told me, was that she could find a way to communicate to young people how important it is to not back down your joy against the assaults of life.
"You gotta ATTACK it!" She said, fist in the air. "You can't let it defeat you!"
As for regrets? You will have them. I asked if there comes a point when regrets ever go away, and she said no. She said, "You will have then at 93, too. I have so many!" She said, "But you examine them. Is there something you can change? Have you learned a lesson? If you learned your lesson and there's nothing you can change, put the regrets in a box and shove 'em away!"
"Where did you learn your amazing attitude?" I asked.
She replied: "From my mother, who would fly a kite on a rainy day."
🙂
Lolly, I love you with all my heart and I want to be you when I grow up.
ONWARD! ATTACK IT! GO AFTER THAT SON OF A BITCH
CALLED LIFE! FLY YOUR KITE!
heart,
LG
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS with a very precocious (and handsome) young reader!
Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
My son, Linden, knows a good thing when he sees it. (Ability to read and meditate not required for handling of books and malas.)
Wow! THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS reaches Peru…where Henry Whittaker once walked! So beautiful…
Photos of Elizabeth Gilbert
Took the great read with me to Peru and could not resist the temptation to take a pic here. Enjoy!
