Stephanie

This blog is a shout out to my friend Stephanie Frieze… just because.  Because I’m so often struck by her thoughtfulness.  Because I’m always impressed by how she connects all those dots.  Because her memories often reinforce and underscore my own.  And because she sees the world a little differently than anyone else I know and helps me to enlarge my own vision when it gets stuck.

Take her recent FB postings (yes, she posted it twice) asking her friends to come bear witness at the burial of an unclaimed Viet Nam veteran in Kent, Washington. “No vet deserves to be buried alone. If you can’t come to Tahoma, please share this.” she said.

Or, how about the time she befriended a new woman in town and invited her to take a class I was giving at Grays Harbor College.  It was about our Peninsula’s history and Stephanie thought Vicki might be interested.  And so… our world expanded once again as we got to know Vicki and Fred Carter.

Lovely Linda, 2013

Or what other grandma has ever let me relive my own childhood and share a grandma experience, to boot? She brought her own granddaughter, the Lovely Linda, to high tea here at the house!  We used the 100+ years-old-dishes and the teapot I remember from tea parties with my own beloved granny and her friends seventy-some years ago.  Or what about the time Stephanie and (then) 2nd grade Linda came calling to get my signature on Linda’s copy of Dear Medora. (My youngest fan!).  I remember her twirly pink shoes and the demonstration of how they worked on my front porch!

Phyllis Diller, 1976

And just a few days ago, again on FB, Stephanie posted the picture of the baby with the fuzzy hat and made the connection with the zany Phyllis Diller.  Who else could  ever have made that delightful association and set my thoughts off in yet another direction?

So, thank you Stephanie!  Thanks for all the times you’ve made me laugh and think and take a second look!  Here’s to many, many more such opportunities!