“True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows and with passing years only grows!” — Sam Levenson, “The Beauty of a Woman”
Beauty is strength and kindness and the connections we have each other. I attended a funeral yesterday for a 99 year-old Jewish lady we called “Lovey.” Yes, her name was Sylvia, but she was Lovey.
She was the 90+ year old whose body housed the mind of an irreverent Flapper. She was the gal who yelled “Boobs!” before a family photograph. She was the person you wanted to laugh with over a mango margarita. And she was the woman who collected elephants for good luck and because “they never forget anything.”
My favorite Maya Angelou quote was read at Lovey’s funeral:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Lovey made you feel like sharing kindness with the world. That was her magic, and she passed it on to her daughter and granddaughters in spades.
I watched the women of her family yesterday, as they are the ones I am connected with. I watched them smile through tears, and laugh through grief, and make sure that everyone had just one more cookie or another bite to eat. I watched her rabbi granddaughter conduct Lovey’s memorial, supporting the family through her own pain.
The beauty of a woman is in her connections. Her bonding and her backbone. Her caring and her kindness. The beauty of a woman is the joy of creativity and being alive that someone like Lovey spreads through her world.
If I actually get to live a long life, I want to be just like Lovey when I grow up.
Beauty is kindness. Beauty is perseverance. Beauty is love.
What says “beauty” to you? Share it in the comments, and please visit the Beauty of a Woman blogfest today at August McLaughlin’s place. She has an “original” BOAW category and a GirlBoner version. This post is a tiny little part of the original category, but I encourage you to visit them all this week.
Go spread some love today, and wallow in your own beauty.
Hugs!
~ Jenny
Here are some BOAW entries from previous years:
- 2015: The Year I Became Bionic
- 2014: What Are Your 21 Layers of Beauty?
- 2013: Beauty of a Woman Blogfest: Do Breasts Define the Female?
- 2012: I didn’t participate, but was moved by these posts to do so the other years.
Oh, Jenny, I so want you to speak at my funeral – one of your many gifts is seeing the good in people, the unique, the crazy, and relishing it.
I wish I’d have known Lovey – she sounds like my kinda lady….
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Well, certainly I will speak if you go before me…but do me a favor and DON’T. Thanks for stopping in, girlfriend. I always miss my Laura. 🙂
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Lovey sounds like such a beautiful person. Thank you for sharing that.
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You are very welcome and I adored your BOAW poem. It was amazing!
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What a beautiful tribute to Lovey, Jenny. Wonderful quote by Maya Angelou. “Wallow in your own beauty,” how cool! I’ve been thinking of you & can’t wait to share with you the stuff I’m learning in my class and some other things. Maybe sometime in June? Have a great week!
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Sweet lady! I’d love to see you, anytime at all. I’m good until about June 20th and then things will be crazy for about a month. Hugs to you!!
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She sounded like both a cool and wonderful person. Reminded me of my great aunts who are no longer with us. Always made us laugh.
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She was wonderful. I’m very good friends with her adopted granddaughter, and her daughter and they are just the most amazing family.
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I am so sorry for the loss of your Lovey. She sounds wonderful and beautiful… just like you. I know I’ve been MIA lately, but I stalk you on social media. Know I love and miss you dearly. ❤
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The world shall miss her! And MOST people go MIA when they add a child to their lives…that’s just the way it works. I’m a crazy extrovert, so I needed social media to stay sane when I stayed home with mind. Most people go the other way, trust me. 🙂 You are not alone!!
(I love you too!)
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What an amazing tribute to Lovey. This is a very special and personal post and I love it.
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Thanks so much, Aurora Jean! I meet the nicest people through BOAW…I’ll be over at your place tomorrow. *fist bump*
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Thanks for sharing Lovey with us, Jenny. She is obviously a woman who will be remembered in spite of the fact she is no longer with us in body. Her soul lives on!
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Patricia, one part of the service that I really enjoyed was when they talked about how you “leave your good name behind” when you go. It’s such an enticing thought, isn’t it?
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This is gorgeous, Jenny. Many cheers for Lovey! I suspect I’ll think of her yelping “Boobs!” next time I have a photo taken. 😉 I bet she’s rocking the hereafter.
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DEFINITELY you have to yell “Boobs.” That’s a tradition that needs to gain traction. 🙂
Thanks for doing all the work to host BOAW every year, August. I think it’s an important collection of wisdom that gets pulled out of these women every year.
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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This. This is priceless. I hope that when I’m gone people will never forget how I made them feel and that that feeling is warm, fuzzy, happy, good.
Keep up the good vibrations my friend. I’m feeling the love. And I’m sorry for the loss of this special lady in your life.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
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How could people not feel warm, fuzzy, happy and good around you? Hello? You’re awesome! Thanks for the sentiment, and for visiting. I sure miss knowing you are in California.
p.s. I’ve been knitting like a FIEND. My meetings = your gift shop’s gain. 🙂
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Sweet. My gift shop has space for whatever you wish to send my way.
And, sometimes I also miss knowing that my friends are so close. Oh well, what’s a plane ride right?
P
p.s. Thanks for the sweet words. You rock.
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Pffft. A plane ride and a trip to Disneyland are easy. Right? Right. 🙂
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“Beauty is kindness. Beauty is perseverance. Beauty is love.” I’ll never look at beauty the same again. Thank you, Jenny.
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You made my day, Debbie! I look forward to BOAW every year. I hope you take time to read through some of the other posts – they are always stellar.
*hugs*
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What a special lady! I do believe that women are the connectors in the family. At least, that has been my experience. Fab post, Jenny! ❤
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It’s that way in my family too, Kathy. Not that the Bag Whore isn’t a hell of a connector, but it’s the ladies who keep up the connections and manage the social calendars that keep us all together. The interesting thing is that in the Hubs’ family, it is the man. 🙂
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Yes, loving kindness is one of the true markers of beauty–thanks for sharing Lovey!
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You are so welcome, Jennifer! And I can’t wait to get over to your post. I am finally, finally, FINALLY nearing the ready mark for the edit I won LAST year. You are amazeballs. 🙂
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What a great BOAW post! I loved your take on it. Yes, to your message re connections, too – that’s what it’s all about! 🙂
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Thanks so much, Yvette. I really do believe that kindness is the truest form of beauty. Thanks for your uplifting comment. The posse here always makes my day. 🙂
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This post was beauty to me, Jenny. Made my face leak. Thank you for spreading your beauty. Hugs.
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That funeral made MY face leak. Two of her great grandsons got up to speak – both of them darling young men – and had us all on the floor by the time they were done. That Lovey was a beautiful soul.
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“…people will never forget how you made them feel.” Isn’t that the truth. And that’s why kindness and compassion is so important. We never know what someone else is experiencing. You Jenny have great insight when it comes to people. You have a unique way of making others feel comfortable and it’s what draws them to you no matter how old they are. It really is a gift and you use it well. It’s a beautiful part of who you are. Always willing to support others. Like Lovey and her family. And 99? I’d say she lived a beautiful life by the way you described not only her but her entire family. But that doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier. ((Hugs))
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Beauty is accepting others for what they are.
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So beautiful Jenny. How lucky you knew this woman and she you. You’re beauty!
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Finally catching up with BOAW posts. You’re lucky to have found someone like Lovey whom you want to be like when you “grow up.” I was lucky enough to have someone like that in my life and paid tribute to her in my 2013 BOAW contribution: https://audreykalman.com/2013/02/21/i-want-to-be-like-carol-winfield-even-when-im-dead/.
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I agree with you. I really feel that a large portion of what makes me beautiful is the friendships, love, and support I receive, and getting the chance to see myself through the eyes of those who love and respect me.
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