You’re all going to think I’m just slightly morbid, and while that might be true, I had the honour of going to a memorial service for Vikki Forsythe yesterday and that has gotten me to thinking …

You see I knew Vikki through the Northumberland Studio Tour, and the Northumberland Potters Association, and I kind of caught her toward the end of her potting career.  I didn’t know her life story, her challenges, or her great body of work really.  I just knew her as an irrasible scalawag that shared my sense of humour and story telling.  We got along when we were in each other’s company, but following the memorial service I’m very sorry that we weren’t in each others company more often.

And that’s the thing.  We don’t come with a booklet attached telling each other what is real and true about us:  how we gather friends or repulse them, what our family life was like, how we handle loss or joy, whether we were kind to strangers, etc.  That seems to come at the end.  And sometimes that’s too late.

So, in the future I’m going to do my best to be interested in interesting people.  See where that leads.  Might have to get past my own reticence to start the dialogue (used to think that was shyness, but now see it as a little bit of self-absorption (ha!)), but that’s got to be better than showing up at memorial service wishing I’d known the person better (especially if they were a good cook, apparently Vikki was a great cook …).

I’m heading out to the Chiropractor and then spending the afternoon putzing with glazes with Charles Funnell.  (There’s somebody you should get to know better, if you’re interested in interesting people who are still alive!)

Hope you’re having a great day,

Susan