"je suis si touchee"

". . . to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded."
~Bessie Anderson Stanley

I had planned on today being my first day back to work after a whole summer away, but my car wouldn't start. I fiddled with a few things I thought might have been the problem but to no avail. Finally I decided to come back upstairs and call my boss to tell her I wouldn't be able to make it today. I gathered the wrenches and the red mug that had held the water and baking soda mixture to clean off the battery terminals, and headed back to the entry way to our apartment. I entered the security code for the building, stepped through the doors and began taking the few paces necessary to arrive at the elevator, when a book (the only book) sitting on one of the tables in the lobby caught my eye. It was a biography on Audry Hepburn written by her son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer. I thought, "that's interesting," went upstairs, put everything away and started to wonder what I was going to do about my car. Finally I decided there wasn't too much I could do until one of my brothers got home with a car, which was a relaxing thought. So I got up and went back downstairs to get a better look at that book. I sat down in one of the lobby chairs and started to read from the first page. I quickly realized that this was a book I was going to be very interested in. But, I think I'm getting a cold, my nose was starting to run like crazy. I knew I would have to go upstairs and get some tissue but I didn't want to leave the book. So I "stole" it for an afternoon. I still have it up here in the living room with me. I brought it up and got lost reading it for at least three hours. It was so beautiful I cried. She was an amazing woman that gave her all; an example to us all. I never knew she had been so involved with humanitarian work. She is proof that someone can be incredibly beautiful and talented without compromising principles or becoming prideful. And a reminder that what is truly important, what can heal and save us, is love. I've always felt that inner character shines through both physically and in personality. The book mentions a few times that her features were not what you would consider the ideal of beauty. That there was something else, some brilliant personal quality that won people over. I am convinced it was her inner beauty shining through. I am so grateful for people like her that are willing to truly shine, to dedicate themselves to being good and doing good even in the face of seemingly impossible odds. It has been an invaluable lesson for me at a crucial time. Thank you, whoever you are that happened to place Audry Hepburn, an Elegant Spirit in my condo lobby. And though I was initially frustrated with my car, I'm very glad now it wouldn't turn over. As if it knew better.

"Whether it be famine in Ethiopia, excruciating poverty in Guatemala and Honduras, civil strife in El Salvador, or ethnic massacre in the Sudan, I saw but one glaring truth. These are not natural disasters, but man-made tragedies, for which there is only one man-made solution--peace."
~Audry Hepburn

P.S.
One story I found particularly interesting was told by Henri Mancini, the composer of many of the soundtracks for the movies Audry Hepburn starred in. He said that she inspired him musically in a way no one else ever did, and that writing "Moon River" for her, which won song of the year, was so easy. He said no one else ever understood it like she did, and no one ever sang it like she did. When they went to preview the movie it was written for, Breakfast at Tiffany's, one of the head guys from Paramount was there. After it was over he said very straightforwardly, and vulgarly, that they were going to have to cut the song. Mancini said she flew out of her chair and a friend had to take her by the arm to restrain her. He says that was the only time he ever saw her come close to losing control. Her singing "Moon River" on the fire escape is probably one of the most memorable moments in cinema history, and the most powerful in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Once, while getting ready to attend a banquet she'd been invited to, she looked at her son and said, "If only I could stay home and eat with you in the kitchen."

Audry Hepburn's last words were a confession of her only regret in life: "I do regret something. I regret not meeting the Dalai Lama. He is probably the closest thing to God we have on this earth. So much humor . . . so much compassion . . . humanity."

At the end of the book I found the most beautiful poem. It was originally something written by Sam Levenson for his grandaughter that Audrey edited into a poem she called "Time-Tested Beauty Tips."

Time Tested Beauty Tips

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.
We leave you a tradition with a future.
The tender loving care of human beings will never become obsolete.
People even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and
redeemed and redeemed and redeemed.
Never throw out anybody.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself,
the other for helping others.
Your "good old days" are still ahead of you, may you have many of them.