BARBARA

 

Some stories just lie in waiting until the person is gone and then they become a treasure to read.  Barbara's is one such story for me.  

In doing an internet search, I didn't need her last name.  Barbara Walters is the first to appear when I type in Barbara.  I wonder if that is the signifier that a woman has become well known.  With so many Barbara's in the world, it is her name that rises to the top.  

I downloaded her book "Audition" yesterday for thirteen dollars.  I am amazed that it was so inexpensive.  

When the queen died, I wondered how to grieve.  How does one grieve for great women?  Barbara Walters spearheaded the careers of so many women, including Oprah.  She was a trailblazer for women in media.  Back when women were shunned for having a voice, Barbara stretched hers to the moon.  I didn't follow her career.  I am not that big of a news buff.  But what I have become lately is a lover of stories, especially of trailblazing women.  I admire passion and those stories are what attract me.  

Lately, my passion for reading has weakened. I enjoy jigsaw puzzling a lot more.  Puzzles are far less controversial and isolating for me.  But I seem to be still drawn to stories, and especially those stories of people so famous that their story has been lost in their celebrity.  Those stories are mattering to me now.  

I don't know what inspirations will arise from my read of "Audition", but that will be another blog post on my "Ruby gets Real" blog, if it indeed becomes another rocket read of my life.  I will look forward to what this woman will speak into my life during the following weeks as I dive in to her story.  I will remember her as I read and will find gratitude for her journey.  This will be my grief.  

“The hardest thing you will ever do is trust yourself.”  Barbara Walters