Rhea’s Story. Part 17.

“This essay came to me on the day I turned 61 ¼. [21 years ago ish as of this post]. I was sitting at an outdoor taverna near my house soaking up what sun there was. Suddenly it came to me, and so I wrote it down. I probably wrote it in latent reaction to people’s questioning whether an older belly dancer can still dance and be great. The answer is YES.

Tina Turner, Cher and Joan Collins are timeless women, always admired. Admired both by men and women, who, by constantly reinventing themselves & changing with the times, remain in the forefront of their profession.

These women are owned by no men, but have certainly loved enough in their lives. They are self-determiners, which does not preclude partnership with men.

By continuing to dynamically entertain and stay ahead of the pack, they embolden all women, even of a lesser dynamism, to remain in the fray as long as they desire, instead of being cast to the sidelines as the official baby sitter for grandchildren (although they can also do that and grandchildren like peppy grandmas).”

Rhea’s essays used to be regularly published on The Gilded Serpent website. She would send me handwritten stories and I would type them up and email them in for her. She lost her drive to express this way when, writing up a long and heartfelt story of her beloved dog Mourgos’ life (and passing), she accidentally left the notebook - with the only record of this tribute - on a plane while she was traveling. It crushed her and she couldn’t keep writing. As I have been doing this project and reading her back her words, she has started to think “maybe I’ll write again.”

Mom designed & made the costume in this pic.