What’s in name? That which we
call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet.”
- Shakespeare, W.
She was named for the Old Testament Biblical character
‘Hannah.’ The name means ‘favor or
grace.’ While Hannah is a minor
character in the scripture, her impact in bearing the child Samuel – one of the
great history-shaping prophets in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition – shaped
the future of Israel more than any other woman.
Yes sir, without Hannah, not much of the Old Testament happens.
In her 70s, Hannah carries her portly body with grace,
refusing to look as if she has aged since her early forties!!
I’ve known her most of her life…I mean as well, I suppose,
as any man knows those of the ‘fairer persuasion.’
The thing about Hannah is that, except for those very early
years, she has always been a pretty big girl.
One might say it appeared she had real potential to pack on the weight from
the very start. You know what they say: big
hands in youth suggest a big body in adulthood.
What? You’ve never heard
that? It is clear then, you have never
met Hannah. Those ‘paws’ were outsized almost right from the start, leaving
little doubt that when she grew into them, she would be considerably hefty.
Sometime take a look at the work of Auguste
Rodin, the prolific French artist who sculpted ‘The Thinker’ among many other
well-known pieces including the ‘Gates of Hell.’ The hands and feet, on his figures, are disproportionally
larger than the bodies; a trademark of much of his individual and multi-person
work. That would be Hannah. The ends of those arms and legs took some time
to grow into, but grow into them she did.
As a policy deeply ingrained in the neurochemistry of my
mind, the result of living in the home of a minister, and the lovingly firm but
gentle hand of my mother, I learned to not draw attention to individuals with
physical issues, but the more I was around Hannah, I found myself referring to
her as “the little pig.” To be fair, for
a long time, I did not do in her presence, feeling it might inflict trauma
accompanied by unintended consequence.
While not proud of it, as time passed; completely out of
character, I simply could not restrain myself, and began saying it in her
presence. I don’t even know how many
times Molly admonished me or doing so, but in full acknowledgment, it was a
compulsion – one for which I openly declare, “I need help.” Balancing this unseemly behavior on my part, however,
I have always greeted her with genuine loving enthusiasm – it does seem
inconsistent doesn’t it? The thing about
her is that she seems to take all of this in stride. In fact, when I talk like this, she appears
to completely ignore me. I have to give
her a lot of credit for that.
While not having the most intimate of relationships, we do
feel comfortable touching one another – appropriately I hasten to add. I regularly tell her I love her, patting her
lovingly on the head, or occasionally rubbing her back – she really seems to
like that. It is true, however, that I
initiate most of this. On those rare
occasions when we are together, she will sit on the couch with me and watch a
little TV. I have the quiet suspicion
she does this just to patronize me, because while she appears to gaze directly
at the screen, she has the most disinterested of looks. She has never once indicated she enjoyed the
experience.
Occasionally while I am sitting in the backyard of our
little home, she wanders by for a visit. I might be reading or just enjoying the
mindless entertainment of the birds that come to munch from our bird feeder. I
am uncertain which one of us enjoys this the most – bird watching I mean – she
or me. Sometimes she chatters away, but as
happens with those who have a degree of familiarity, we are able to quietly
enjoy sharing space together. I
particularly like that…the quiet moments.
While she is very healthy, for her age I mean, I wonder
sometimes what it would be like NOT having her around. She is older and unless something unexpected
shortens the breath I take on this planet, I will outlive her. They say cats have ‘nine lives.’ Oh were it that she truly had that many and
that she was purring near me as I finish my journey, even if she appeared
disinterested…for that I would give much indeed.
While I have uncharacteristically teased her and she can be
a little high maintenance, whining a fair amount when she does not get her way,
for the most part I have “…grown accustomed to her face…”
Hannah? What she has
lacked in ‘grace,’ in my life, she has more than made up for in ‘favor….’
No comments:
Post a Comment