I never met a Dorothy I didn’t like….

Isn’t she a beauty? Dr. Dorothy Height has gone from our world now, yet she has left us talking about her behind her back, so to speak.


I won’t even pretend to understand or be aware of all that she accomplished in the interest of civil rights. I suspect you don’t have to be black (and I’m not) to wonder who will come along and take up her cause(s)…

So, I just happened to be surfing the I-net and somehow found myself on the “clutch mag” page, glimpsed this picture of Dr. Dorothy and thought, “Wow, look at her. How wise and beautiful, and how sad those she left behind who were lucky enough to love her and learn from her must be….” And then I thought, how marvelous and amazing it must have been to be her. Just think, accomplishing so much for others and making a big difference in a big world, being steadfast and focused about it all….and yet, she was merely a woman with womanly flaws and womanly vulnerabilities. Just between you and me, don't you think she had something extra, that “above and beyond” what it takes to be a dynamic woman of color in today’s world?  Look at her, she must have!

There were two very special women in my life named Dorothy….

When I was a child, Dorothy A was wonderful to me. She had a cupboard in her kitchen that was for me (as well as other really little kids) and it was filled with wonderful things. She laughed a lot and said funny things, like “This day God hath *not* made.” She was an artist and I really, really like her a lot. She lived at the south end of Oregon.

When I was an adult, Dorothy C was wonderful to me. She lived up the hill a ways from me. I was kinda new in town and she came knocking at my door, bearing homemade cookies. That was the first of many, many wonderful visits. She was always encouraging and enthusiastic. I think her motto must have been “You can do it!” She was a writer, the wife of a writer, and I really, really like her a lot. She lived at the north end of Oregon.

I’m really lucky to have had a couple of Dorothys in my life.  I think they believed in me.  They were both good and beautiful, just like Dr. Dorothy Height. May she R.I.P….

Shawn
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photo courtesy of: clutch magazine