In some ways, my Christmas was a little feminist-centric. One of my main presents was Brunelleschi's Egg, a brand new Renaissance book written by one of the founding mothers of art history, Mary D. Garrard. I'm really excited to read this book, and I hope to use it for an upcoming course on Renaissance art.In addition to my present, one really special Christmas present was given to my dad. Right before Christmas, my sisters came across my mom's carbon paper letters (which were bound in a book of carbon paper). When I was younger, my mom wrote all of her letters with carbon paper, so that she could keep a copy of anything she mailed. My sisters wrapped up this book of letters and gave it to my dad. It was really sweet.
It was fun to go through the letters and see what my mom had written. On Christmas morning, soon after receiving Brunelleschi's Egg as a gift, I happened to come across this excerpt from one of my mom's letters to her friend Trudy:
"[M] has already had a darling boy write her love notes and send her presents. They went to each others' baptisms. He was not in our ward but we took him to piano lessons every week and he practiced on our piano until they got one. She is a feminist and has not been excited to be in an all boy Primary class. (Maybe already having attention from one boy will help her be less boy crazy later on.) Always has been a feminist" (dated March 21, 1991; my emphasis).
It was fun to read that quote on Christmas day, and think about how things came full circle with the gift of my feminist art history book. I guess my mother figured out that I was a feminist even before I even knew the meaning of the word. For me, reading that letter was a gift: it was a nice little testament to my mother's perceptive nature. I think she was more perceptive than I sometimes gave her credit. It was nice to feel a connection with her on Christmas day.
Posts
4 comments:
How lovely that you found the book of carbon copies! That's very neat and is incredibly meaningful.
I was really touched to hear that because I can (at least in a small way) relate.
After my mom passed away, I found a journal of her's. My mom was not a journal keeper at all, matter of fact, the last entry was dated back to when I was a very young child.
Anyway, in one of her last entries, she wrote a small paragraph about each child -- personality traits, how she felt about each child, etc.
I didn't know it existed when she was alive, but found it very touching to find afterward.
And yes, your mom was very perceptive about you. :)
very sweet. are you embracing the feminist label then? i am remembering an older post of yours where you were not quite sure what to do about it.
I love that!
Just shows you that our natures are truly inherent. Its nice to know that had we been friends when you were ten, that you would have been pretty much the same as you are now.
I love that you have that piece of your mother.
Post a Comment