Edith Olson, Dale Little at Edith’s 90th
Years ago – almost forty, now – I went to Alaska with my friend Edith Olson. Edith was my mother’s contemporary and I had known her all my life. Just after the war (WWII) she and her husband and children had moved to the Matanuska Valley in Alaska, had taken up a homestead near Wasilla and, all those years later, she wanted to show me “her” Alaska. It was a fabulous trip.
We went everywhere – from Juneau up into the Arctic Circle and from the Pribilof Islands to the Kenai Peninsula. Of all the spectacular experiences we had and all the amazing people we met, one small situation most firmly sticks in my memory. We were at an art museum, maybe in Ketchikan, and I was struck by the beauty (Yes, beauty!) of the silver haired man sitting at the reception desk. Later, after we had left, I spoke of him to Edith: “I think he was the best looking man I have ever seen,” I said.
“Did you tell him so?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted. “It never occurred to me.”
Maggie Stuckey
“You should always share your heart with people when you have the opportunity,” Edith said in her quiet way. “It may be the only bright spot in their day.”
I don’t know that I’ve always followed that sage advice, but I thought of it yesterday when my friend Maggie and I met for coffee. This time, the tables were turned and Maggie said she wanted to speak to me about something she’d noticed that was happening in my life and how she felt about my reaction (or, actually, my non-reaction) to it. I was flabbergasted – first that she had noticed and, secondly, that she so generously told me so.
Actually, her words made me a bit teary. In a good way. I felt I’d been given a rare gift – a piece of my friend Maggie’s big heart. She and Edith would have gotten along famously.
Yes, we should never waste an opportunity to give a compliment. I thank you for introducing me to Maggie. Because of you this delightful lady will be a part of a book reading to be held in Portland on Thursday, September 15 at the Rusted Rooster, an antique shop in Sellwood, 7836, SE 13th. We will also sample recipes from Maggie’s cook books. 6-8 p..m. Free and open to the public.