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176 pages, Hardcover
Published October 18, 2022
‘Finding time is all we want to do.
Once you find time, you want more time.
And more time in between that time.
There can never be enough time.
And you can never hold on to it.
It is so strange
We live. And then we die.
So unutterably strange.’
Thank you, my angel friend Gretchen Bach. I'm doing this publicly (although I've also done it privately) because I believe there is something in this for more people than just me.
Gretchen gave me treasure: a copy of Maira Kalman's new book of paintings and text, Women Holding Things. It is so gorgeous that I have been paging through it as slowly as I can to make first seeing last longer. Yesterday I was stopped dead by this page.
I was looking at myself and Maya during her last 15 months of life. Just after I gave her her morning infusion, I would carry her to the park. I carried her in a hug against my breasts. My feelings of love and grief and agony were all equal. One morning right after I'd entered the park and was making my way up West Drive, two women came toward me. I had just curled around Maya in a quick kiss and I saw one woman react--BIG. "Can I take your photo?" she asked as we got nearer. Numb, I assented. I didn't pose or smile. I just stood there feeling what I felt. She snapped a photo, I nodded, wordless, and walked on.
You cannot imagine how stunned I was to see this moment in Maira Kalman's book. There was not a doubt in my mind that she was the woman who snapped the photo. But still I emailed and sent a snapshot from better times. Here is her response:
dear betsy.
it was indeed you.
i was struck by your grace and beauty.
unconditional love and devotion in the most poignant and pure form.
thank you for allowing me to photograph you.
these moments are lessons on how to live life. gifts from the gods.
all very best to you.
maira
Gretchen, you are intertwined in this gift in a way that takes my breath away. Thank you.
'What did we say to each other?
I just don't know.
How we got through the day is beyond me.
But on some level, this lack of
communication feels like true
communication. Or that is how
I have come to think of it.'