Chronicles of a Story Collector- JB

I meet such lovely people every day for work, which I consider such a blessing. My entire life I've had a sort of way with people that leaves them feeling free to share their stories. Today I met this sweet 82 year old lady and became fast friends.

I came to her house this afternoon to help her get a new walk in tub and surroundings for her bathroom. At her age things have gotten difficult for her and she'd recently slipped face first into her existing tub. This clearly wouldn't do, so I got to work talking to her and assessing her needs.

The beauty of this process is I often hear stories from the homeowners, about how they acquired their houses, their lives, or other various details that come out in natural flowing conversation.

This woman though? Her story is fantastic. She was born to a white English dad with a Black mom back in the 1940s. Her English grandma stole her at 3 days old and kept her in England until her death when the woman was a Junior in high school. She ended up meeting the love of her life, blowing him off at first and reconnecting later then staying together for 60 lovely years until he died in her arms this past February. During those sixty years she wanted for nothing. He was a top level military colonel and treated her like a princess, with mink coats for multiple major anniversaries and more gorgeous jewelry than she knew what to do with. She was an interior designer, (something I recently realized I aspire to) and taught art at Notre Dame for 17 years and it shows in her home. Custom artwork adorned all the walls, painted by her or by her students.

She remarked that at some point she asked her mother why she didn't come get her from England and her mom explained that as a Black woman back then she had no standing against this older white woman, who lived in another country nonetheless. She told me this is why she treated children, the elderly and animals as precious jewels and how she was the neighborhood mom that anyone could drop their kids off with. Meanwhile, she felt so insecure about her own childhood that she never allowed her own children to stay at their friends houses for fear they'd be stolen from her.

With her home still decorated with Christmas cheer she told me that the grandchildren had surprised her with a visit the night prior and her heart was bursting with joy. It was her first Christmas without her husband and their presence brought a level of joy and youth that she had longed for, noting that they had stayed up until 3:30 the night prior.

She was so much fun to talk to, and invited me to come back to tea any time I happen to be in the area. Point being, I meet and hear new stories every day and I absolutely live for it. People are marvelously fascinating and filled with wonderful stories when you're open and ready to hear them. With the beginnings of my new career in swing, I'm excited to learn more about people as I'm invited into their homes, and the stories that they share.