September 22, 2013 3:50 pm
A three-year-old I know just got glasses. He has big beautiful eyes and the glasses make his eyes even bigger. And more beautiful. Sandy, my childhood friend, had the make-your-eyes-bigger kind of glasses. I thought she looked perfect. I thought she was perfect.
When Dale F. stood up straight, he stood up so straight he actually curved. I admired the intensity of his up-straightness. And because I always wanted to be the best at stuff, I emulated his style for awhile.
I think my spine was at a formative stage. I blame him for my lower back troubles. Oh, wait — maybe those are from the years I spent slouching because I was tall. Or from the decades spent hunched over a drawing table.
The rest of us got poison ivy. Pam T. got poison oak. So when she came to school slathered in calamine lotion, it seemed cool. Exotic. It only added to her beauty:
I made these little paintings thinking there was something that tied them all together, but I’m still trying to figure out how to say what it is. I don’t want to say something about “the wisdom of children,” because there were plenty of beauties that I missed, plenty of people I wasn’t as kind to as I might have been. There still are. The closest I can come at the moment is, don’t assume you know what other people are thinking, about you or about anything else. I can also say, I really love it when someone points out to me a beauty I had not seen for myself. One more thought that crossed my mind: when you love or like someone, the way they are seems just right, and interesting, and beautiful.
Posted by Lynne Rae Perkins
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: different kinds of beauty, poison oak, thick eyeglasses
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Dear Lynne, I LOVE reading your blog and catching up on your illustrations! You are so right – I have a special needs daughter and every day I am with her is a special gift. You might remember me from Unity church on Center Road. I taught Sunday school classes there when your children were smaller. Also showed you a children’s book I wrote about growing up in a mining camp in PA. I have a new short story called “Cherry Moon Magic” – I would like to share with you! Take care,keep blogging! Breathe in Peace, Breathe out Love…..Kathi
By Kathi Ivany on September 22, 2013 at 4:17 pm
I do remember you, Kathi. Good to hear from you. I’ve emailed you about the story.
By Lynne on September 23, 2013 at 1:17 am
: ) Beautiful. Your loving heart sees beauty everywhere. Happily, some of us (you) are able to draw and paint it for the rest of us! These lovely drawings are so gentle AND colourful! Merci!
By Sanford Cecily on September 22, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Lynn, the illustrations and the stories are beautiful. And they remnd me of some of the beauties in my life. Thank you, Loraine
By Loraine on September 22, 2013 at 7:20 pm
Thanks,Loraine!
By Lynne on September 23, 2013 at 1:13 am
Love the girl in the glasses. I got glasses when I was three and although I was allowed to chose them I never looked at myself as cute in those childhood photos. Seeing your picture helps me see what I and others seeing in those cute kids with eye wear. Thanks I will try to see myself through others perspective.
By Leslie Sladek on September 28, 2013 at 11:38 pm
I’m betting you were cute as a button.
By Lynne on September 30, 2013 at 2:24 pm
Dear Lynne,
I love and agree with your reflection. All of my life, I would tell my Mom about friends that she didn’t know and hadn’t had an opportunity to meet. I would describe them as beautiful or cute or handsome , having lovely hair…
Then she would meet them and ask me why I found them to be so attractive, she would say they were normal looking. I was happy to find out that when I know a person who is lovely on the inside, they are lovely on the outside for me. I am glad to be a person who actually sees the inner beauty of a person.
That is what this post brings to my mind. I believe that you have always been able to “see” someones inner beauty! Love, MaryShaSha
By Mary Theresa Muto on November 30, 2013 at 5:37 am
maybe why we are pals! ((((( )))))
By Lynne on December 1, 2013 at 12:05 am