Proust Questionnaire. Guest Blogger Christy

Christy and Grace in the Bahamas

2011

 

Well, it looks like all of you love Stephen as much as I do! On what occasion do I lie? Never. I am incapable of lying. This trait can be both rewarding and debilitating.

Okay, on to today’s guest blogger… Christy. Christy is super private but I can tell you that she is the best person I know. Her moral compass is pointed due North in the direction of all that is good and pure. She spends her day, time and energy helping others in need… And on top of that she is pretty, a Stanford graduate, a Texan, makes a mean guacamole and is the best mother a kid could ask for.

Proust Question for Christy: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Christy’s Answer: Ellie, if your friends and fans cannot hear directly FROM you as you temporarily rest your voice, I think they would like to hear ABOUT you!

The meaning behind the popularity of, and devotion to this space is being connected to you. 

Since you will not brag, I would like to do that for you.  

Your greatest achievement and gift in my view is your daughter Grace!  You have shared many of the relatable rewarding and distressing interactions between moms, kids, and teens.  Grace is AMAZING!!!!

Grace is honest, very smart, funny, kind, discerning, resourceful, and has her own sense of style.  As her mother, you have kept her very close, even exposing her (as we all have done with our own kids) to some situations that are beyond her years in content.  Through your diverse friendships and experiences in art, music, travel, work, design, cuisine, and writing, you show Gracie-literally- the world.  You always bring Grace with you.  I have not ever known of a trip or dinner party in which you have not included her. In listening to you, your friends and family, some sane and some colorful (I consider myself both), she has learned to THINK and emulate qualities she admires, and avoid those that she does not.  By the Grace of God.  You encourage her to be close to her father and you married someone who has been very kind to her.  You dress with “decorum", and in spite of a lovely figure which you could show off more obviously, you instead show Grace your grace in appearance and apparel.  

You encourage her sense of humor by demonstrating yours, in fun times, in extremely stressful times, and during embarrassing times.  One of my favorite stories when Grace was younger is when you took her on the Ferris wheel in Paris, and your skirt flew up revealing your Spanx.  Grace was so embarrassed and you laughed and laughed, with yourself and later with your friends.  What a gift, and what a wonderful mom that would get ON a Ferris wheel in a dress for her daughter!  Your bravery in recent years has been remarkable to say the least.  When you and Grace and I drove to the hospital as you faced intense surgery and risk, we laughed, you saw a rainbow over the Pacific, and we all ate cheeseburgers.  The next day in ICU as you woke up after your surgery, Grace and David and Jenny within your arm’s reach, you looked at me and said, “I’m alive, you can change your shirt now.”    (Apparently my burger had dripped.) You show your daughter- and MANY of us- that you can be brave, go for life, and sometimes what we think is a huge deal, is not, or even when it is, we can get through it.

What greater gift in our lives than children!? Biological, adopted, our friends’ children, pets that are our children--I have 6 four-legged children and have rescued others as well—MOST WOMEN have MOTHERED with or without their own natural children.  The other women you have asked to guest write for your blog also have great children, and are kind to other children as you are, probably that is the deepest part of your bond.

Ellie, toast yourself on Mother’s Day!!!  You will see Grace continue to have outstanding opportunities and demonstrate excellence and decorum!!!  

My sincere wish is for more people to be kind to children, ALL children, and animals.  Yours, mine, and others.  Children are born innocent and can grow into lovely people, either because of us, or in spite of our challenges and mistakes, by the Grace of God.  

Thank you, Christy. I would normally never toot my own horn but since you did it for me out of pure love… I accept and I thank you.

P.S. Do you want to hear something funny?

Today is Mother’s day and my lovely little Gracie showed up to my apartment late and empty handed. So, of course, I read her the Riot Act and then forced her back on to the streets of Paris on a Sunday to search for flowers and a card for her dear mother knowing full well that every shop is closed on Sunday and I depleted her bank account so she has no cash to pay even if she finds crappy flowers at an overpriced Arabic bodega. That is called “Parenting 101”, my friends.

Happy Mother’s Day!