Today, I remember, Jeanne Engstrom. I related to her as my only sister. She passed into the Light six years ago this month. I talked to her on the phone once a week and had failed to call her one Sunday night. She died in her sleep. That was Sunday night. On Tuesday morning, her daughter called her and her boss also was upset because it was the second day she hadn't shown up for work. She had been resting peacefully for a day and a half before her death was discovered.
Few people have influenced who I am today like she did. In many ways, she was the mother AND the sister I needed in my life. We had real conversations about real women subjects. She taught me how to be a grand hostess and cook for a large family. Her sense of creating a plush, inviting environment is unsurpassed by any. She should have been consulted in decorating and hosting at the white house now and then. She had fiery red hair which she maintained, along with her attire - the elegance of a queen AND pzazz of Auntie Mame.
Jeanne was a contralto, the best in the valley. She sang with my father, the bass. The soprano was Ruth Larsen, and the tenors varied, from Bill Marley to Leo Carvelle. They all loved music and performing. Jeanne was active in local theater, too. She is especially remembered for her role as Aldonza in Man of LaMancha. I remember helping her to learn the words to another musical, That's Why the Lady is a Tramp. Of course, I know all the words by heart, too.
She sang at my wedding - The Lord's Prayer and Wheree're you Walk, Cool Gales Shall Fan the Glades. I heard her trembling as she sang. I was honored to be so special to one who was so special person.
When I'd return to the Utica area for a visit, I'd stay at Jeanne's. She and Rod always made me feel like I was at home at their 300 year old circa building, which had been a doctor's surgery once. So many memories. Further back to when I was a little girl when she gave me an apple green depression glass tea set that had been hers as a little girl - back to stories she told me of her own childhood. When she and Rod began their family, I baby sat and watched them grow.
I only know one grandchild, Jennifer. She has fiery red hair, a beautiful soprano voice, plays the cello, and is celebrating the 10th anniversary of NYMVAE, an opera company she joined in NYC and never left. Jeanne would be so proud of her. Even, if she were in a wheel chair, carrying oxygen, she would be at the anniversary celebration. I do also have to say that she would have a martini in her hand, if only for the memory of a life lived to the fullest that she knew how to live. As I do, she would see her Spirit carrying on through to her granddaughter. She might even see some of herself in me.
Here's to the lust for life and the love of the theater that Jeanne channels into our lives!
We all have these memories of people close to us, no matter how our lives unfolded. Who is one for you who nurtured and protected your inner child and applauds for what you have become?
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