Tallchiefs and Mothers

a guest post by the fabulous Michal Jones-Stewart  

In my tweener/teen years I was an avid ballet fan, though I couldn't dance worth shit, and made my family sit through numerous recitals.

I was allowed to pick my birthday present and, back then, it was always a trip to the 'Burg (Pittsburgh) to see someone famous.

Not a rock star but some classical superstar -- Van Cliburn, Maria Tallchief and the American Ballet Theater, opera. My mother ALWAYS readily agreed, almost with glee. I never understood. With her depression era frugality, this was a real extravagance.

It wasn't until she was in her dotage that I understood. She lived and breathed ‘culture’ (opera, dance, etc.), with a passion.

At her memorial service, one of her cousins told me the story of Mom being so excited that she could take her to a Standing Room Only performance at Heinz Hall to see an opera when she was in college for $5.00 -- this was 1942.

So, when her 10-15 year old daughter WANTED to go to a live performance she was willing to GO!

The passing of Maria Tallchief, (who I saw TWICE!), is also another passing -- the passing of a memory of my Mother and I doing something together that we both loved. There aren't many of those, we weren't close, but I still remember standing in the lobby at intermission and the joy in my mother's face and voice.
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Today is a day to remember our mothers (birth and spiritual mothers) who’ve gone on to other realms. Today is a day to celebrate with the mothers who are still with us.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
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Michal Jones-Stewart, AKA The Balm of Idaho, is a dear friend of mine. It seems unimaginable that we met just a few short years ago.
That's Michal, at left, with her gone-much-to-soon Rodney.