Mrs. Teabody Waves Goodbye

"You can't help getting older but you don't have to get old."

Jeannie  celebrating her 95th birthday with family.

On Tuesday I looked up from my weekly cleaning at TYF to see the engaging smile of a young man I hadn't seen in easily thirty years. Nonetheless, I knew him and instantly felt the old rapport. We passed a couple hours catching up and drinking tea and inevitably our talk turned to travel. That's what happens when you tete-a-tete with a fellow tumbleweed. Later in the evening I tossed a couple items in my "Ireland suitcase" and that started me thinking about journeys past and in the offing, about  meticulous planning, about wanting to put one's best foot forward, about learning, about intelligence and wit and about style. 

I thought of Jeannie Greathead Hutchinson.

Jeannie looking chic while eating chocolate ice cream outside her cabin on a Bahamas cruise.

In 2014 the Teabodys took a little cruise in the Bahamas with Mr. Teabody's then 97 year-old Aunt Jeannie and that quality time cruising the Caribbean reminded  me of what a joy it is to spend time in the company of women of a certain era. Jeannie has lived independently in her own home fifteen minutes from downtown Miami for more than fifty years. She attends church,  sometimes walks to a Subway, a pizza place or the bank a few blocks from her house, mostly drives to the library and for hair appointments and plays bridge with friends. She reads the Miami Herald front to back, rarely watches television and reads voraciously. I like her a lot and admire her tremendously.

As the two of us stood unpacking suitcases, I could not help noticing the meticulousness of Jeanie's packing. No haphazard casual togs for her. No. She had packed lovely ensembles with matching jewelry, matching shoes kept perfect in little sleeves, lingerie pretty and feminine. Jeannie is a beautiful woman  with a smile that can light up a room. Always, always she puts her best foot forward.

Jeannie turns 98.

If you ever saw or had the good fortune to meet Jeannie, you would remember the experience, Gentle Reader. She makes it a habit to be well put together which in itself speaks volumes of her regard for the world around her. She smiles brilliantly and easily revealing a youthfulness that transcends her years. If you spent some time talking with Jeannie, she made you feel important. No cell phones for her. No looking over her shoulder or through you to see what's coming down the pike. Her focus is on you. She listens. Continue in a conversation and within the first five minutes of meeting  she makes you smile, maybe even laugh out loud. She can tell stories of a world we never knew, Gentle Reader, a more dignified, more respectful, more congenial world.

I'm very glad I had the opportunity to spend time with this gracious and resilient lady. Being with her reminded me to stand a little taller. She made me aware that there IS life after forty and plenty of it. She reminded me to comb my hair, to have a care about my clothing because there are young girls looking for  an example. She reminded me that intelligence is a gift not to be squandered and wit is a gift to hone. She taught me the value of resilience. Most of all she made me feel valuable and reminded me that the world is a wonderful place. This morning it is less wonderful because she is no longer in it.  We mourn her passing and the grace with which she lived her life.

Goodbye, Jeannie. I'll never forget you.