Sunday, August 07, 2005

Faces from the past

This is my wife, Debbie's, late great aunt Millie. A kinder, gentler person you'd never meet. She passed away many years ago, but not before I got to know her as Debbie and I grew into what we are today. It was a privilege to be part of her family.

I post this for a number of reasons. First, Noah's full name is Noah Mayer Gideon Levy. It is our tradition to honor the memory of those who have passed on by naming our children after them - if not the full name, then at least the initial. So Mayer is for Auntie Millie. He inherited part of her good soul.

Second, I wanted to define beauty in terms that go beyond what Madison Avenue would have us believe. This photo, more than others, reaffirms that true beauty comes from within. It outlives us, and influences those who come afterward to be better people. Auntie Millie would wholeheartedly agree.

I continue to post more pictures to the accompanying Flickr photo site (see photo strip to the right for the link.) I hope you'll cruise the images there for some more insight into what I think is worth looking at and thinking about.

Your turn: Please select three words that, in your opinion, define beauty.

9 comments:

Christine said...

What a lovely, kind face she had.

Beauty is so many things. I'll say happy, confident, and peaeful.

Anonymous said...

Here are my three: Centered, Wise, Kind

Heather said...

What a sweet post.

Anonymous said...

Kindness,respectful,happy :)

what a lovely post.

Anonymous said...

Family is everything.

1. graceful
2. confident
3. wise

Anonymous said...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in those eyes you will always see a

- LOVE
- OF
- LIFE

Jill said...

Aunt Millie reminds me of my Aunti Hazel. What an amazing blend of wisdom, spunk (in a way that is rare nowdays) and love. This is a wonderful post, Carmi. I'm so glad you shared this.

Rhodent said...

Carmi,
I am especially interested in your take on the Aug 8 article that I posted about tonight!

I think Kindness and humility would have to be two of the three and loving would be the other.

MorahMommy said...

Auntie Millie was truly a special woman. I have so many wonderful memories of her.

One that sticks in my mind was when we used to visit her, we would wait for my parents to fall asleep and then she would sneak out the chocolate and we would eat it in bed and giggle until we fell asleep.

I like to think her kindness, love and sense of humour are reflected in our Noah