Day: March 27, 2010

Ring them Bells, as Dylan, said for the blind and the deaf. For the ones who can love.

I took some photos of Frieda and Maria today, and the emotion in them was striking.

Lots of emotion in the day in other ways.

There was a lot of love in the room – me, Maria, Frieda, but when I picked up the camera, the feeling passing between Maria and Frieda was so powerful you could almost touch it. Frieda was running wild in the Adirondacks when some students corralled her after months of trying. I took a few photos and will put them up.

Frieda has a big heart and a rough life. She seems to have  lived outdoors, by her hunting instincts which surface often, usually at inappropriate times. She is a handful, loud protective, tough, loving.

She and Maria went through some rough times together and it was clear to me from the first that without getting through to Frieda, there would be no Maria. I did. But the real connection with Frieda is Maria and when they are together, the emotion is beautiful, yet also, sad in some ways, sad.

Both of them experienced more pain and suffering than gentle souls should experience.

My daughter Emma went back to New York today and that is always sad for me. I never meant for our lives to be lived so far apart, and to be so different. My divorce and other troubles were painful and difficult for her, and we have both worked hard to remain close and connected. I doubt we will ever live too close to one another again, and that is in its own way, heartbreaking. Life just took me places I did not imagine going. But I see that we can be close.

I love Emma dearly, and was profoundly moved to share her first book reading and am lucky that our closeness has triumphed and flourished. Frieda and Maria always evoke closeness.