Grandma's Words

As I continue with office cleaning I am finding more stuff I was meaning to post, such as this poem from my beloved Grandma Charlotte, who passed away this year at (almost) 90. I think of her often, and I contemplate the gift of knowing someone who is very old. The truism is that they are childlike in their dependency and physical limitations, but the more important similarity to children is their capacity for pure love. You can do the smallest thing for a very old person, and she will reward you with an abundance of love in return. The last thing I did for my grandma was read her a card she had received from her church "lunch bunch" here in the Bay Area (her eyesight was just beginning to fail, though her mind never did) and she was so pleased.

Friendship

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible
comfort of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts
nor measure words,
but to pour them all out,
just as they are,
chaff and grain together
knowing that a faithful hand
will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping, and then,
with the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.
Thank you for being my friend.

--Charlotte Bowman Leigh-Taylor

Here are the principles Grandma continually stressed throughout the childhood of her three children:

Charlotte's Rules of Life

Love is the strongest force in the world. Power may sometimes win a battle, but Love rules the world.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Whenever you accept a gift, you pay for it in the gratitude you express to the donor. It is an extremely costly gift if you do not like the giver.

My bottom line in deciding whether I should do one thing or not, is, can I look at the face I see in the mirror after I have done the deed. If I can, there is no problem.

Just think of everyone you see as having a big ribbon across his/her chest which says "I WANT TO FEEL IMPORTANT." Treat them that way and you will reap untold benefits.

Read Ralph Waldo Emerson, especially his essays on "The Oversoul," "Self-Reliance," "Compensation," "Spiritual Laws," "Intellect," "Circles," "Friendship," "Love," "Experience" and "Character."

Another book I strongly recommend is "The Choice is Always Ours." These two books, plus the New Testament, Psalms and Isaiah in the Old Testament, are the most important guides I have needed during my lifetime. They are my fallback position and my best friends.

--Charlotte B. Leigh-Taylor, May 1989