Thanks Spunky Ethel!

With a grandmother who nicknamed herself Spunky Ethel, I shouldn't be surprised that I wrote a book about being a Bodacious Woman. Spunky Ethel is my bodacious mother of origin and her legacy continues to this day through all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I have very clear memories of my grandmother picking me up after school, and taking time to focus on me and my world. Sitting at the Roses discount store lunch counter, she taught me how a little love and chocolate cake can melt away the stresses of grade school. Later, as a teenager, I remember one hot summer day pulling up in front of her home to find her perched outside with a big smile on her face drinking a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer through a straw... with all the class and charm of her elegant dinner parties of years before. Then there was the time she put on head phones attached to a Sony Walkman. Her face lit up like a young girl who tasted fudge for the first time. She had spunk all right. She was living life on her own terms and loving every minute of it.

Spunky Ethel passed this independent thinking to my mom as well. I remember my mom telling me stories about how Grandma encouraged her to take solo bus trips downtown as a young teenager. My mom describes it as a wondrous, enlightening experience that grew her understanding of the world and her confidence. Like any parent, Spunky Ethel wanted her daughter to experience even more opportunity as a woman. Though Grandma was only able to attend a few years of college, she made sure her daughter would be able to graduate. I can only imagine how proud they both must have been when my mom received her diploma at graduation.

Of all of Spunky Ethel's favorite phrases sayings, the one that has stuck with me and meant more as the years go by is "This too shall pass."

She would often remind me of this truth when I was going through a tough time. I knew her life hadn't been easy. But, her gentle, warm smile was a testament that love and goodness ultimately prevail. Keep at it, I absorbed, and the difficulty will pass.

But as I've earned my way to being an adolescent middle-age woman, I've come to appreciate Spunky Ethel's words in a whole new way. Not only will difficulties pass, but so will all the moments of joy, laughter, and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Spunky Ethel strove to make each moment we had together meaningful.

Now in her advice, I hear this:

"Embrace this life now while you have it.

Be present. Be a full participant in your whole life. Live without regrets.

You have this moment with your family and friends, live it.

You have this moment to go after your dreams, go for it.

You have this moment to make a difference, do it.

Don't worry about appearing too selfish or arrogant or bossy. That ultimately doesn't matter.

What matters is that you lived truly lived every moment of your life, that you felt every morsel, that you never gave up.

Because one day, this thing called life...this too shall pass."

And that is what I believe it really means to be a spunky, bodacious woman.

Here's to you Spunky Ethel!

Love,

Mary

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