By Betty A. Little
posted
Jan 3, 2013
I don't know Cinda's full name. She was an associate of Ann
Wallen and she worked sometimes for the Rutland County Office
on Aging. The fall of 2009 she gave a program for the Killington
Arts Guild and everyone thought that she was terrific. She was like
a gift. Her talk seemed to me like a good guide for anyone for the
New Year. I wrote a poem about the meeting. Ann gave her the poem
and the three of us had lunch at Johnny Boys on Route 4 in Rutland.
We were the last people to leave and we promised to meet again
monthly but a second date was never made. I suppose she was just
too busy.
Now I am looking for her. The poem about that KAG meeting is my
only clue. As prose it reads like this:
"Cinda enters the room a tall stately woman in a long flowered
gown. The dress swings at her feet, like she's dancing. As she
passes through the assembly, she looks at each face, carefully
makes eye contact with each. We feel like we already know
her.
She sits in the front row tilts her blond bobbed head, speaks to
the woman behind her 'I used to be ugly, to be unsure, to be
depressed and without a friend. That is over now, that feeling has
come to an end.'"
When Cinda stands and speaks she sounds like she's singing:
"What makes you light up like a Christmas Tree?" she had
asked.
'Chocolate', 'children,' 'spring,' the chorus replies.
She confesses, "I wanted to be an antelope once. I learned
to run. One afternoon, I ran like an antelope, that's what lit up
my life."
Cinda has clients, depressed and in pain, her task is to help them
find joy. She tells them and she's telling us now, "Accept the
moment, and live fully in it. Find the good in every person. Find
happiness in every place," she said, admitting. "It takes practice
living like this. Live with thanks. Live with praise. Give it to
yourself; give it to others."
"The meeting is over, now cookies and tea. George sits down and
plays the piano. We form a Congo line and dance. That's how it
should be, that's what lights us up like a Christmas Tree," she
concluded.
Tagged:
Killington Art's Guild
