Elizabeth Taylor died today. I was sorry to learn she is no longer with us. You can say a lot about Elizabeth Taylor but you can never say she was boring. I felt a certain kinship with her since she and I shared the same birth year and her birthday was three months before mine.

She was a star at such a young age she never had a normal childhood but she certainly had a lot of opportunities not given to many. You can like her or hate her but I always found her interesting. There are few stars left of her era and none of which compare to her.

We couldn’t expect an Elizabeth Taylor to come home from her job of the day, throw on an apron and cook supper for a family. It would seem odd for her to drive a station-wagon full of kids to a Scout outing, seeing her pulling clothes from the dryer to fold or hang. And that wouldn’t make me happy to see her do all those things.

Because of that, I enjoyed her elegant self. It didn’t matter that I was drying the clothes, hauling kids here and there, cooking, packing lunches and then dash off to a job. My life was good for me and I enjoyed seeing her live the exciting life she did.

When I was very young I loved stories about princesses and their castles….the handsome prince who would find her and they would live happily ever after. One day I was telling my mother when I grew up I wanted to live in a castle. She chuckled and said I wouldn’t like it. When I asked why, she said there was no plumbing, the castles were drafty and cold and cooking was done in huge fire-places which would be hard to do. I wanted to live like the storybooks and the reality of it was beyond my comprehension.

The many years since that conversation with my mother I found the wisdom of what she said. I am convinced that ordinary people who play out their lives in a family circle and friends live fulfilling lives. Once fame and fortune lands on an individual their life becomes complicated to the extent they have to fight for privacy. The fun they once had out in public becomes difficult if not impossible.

It is enough for me to enjoy things I can never own, be, or know. Just let me be a face in the crowd and I’m happy. Why? Because I can just be…me.

After all the years that have passed I have come to know my mother was right….

Essentially Esther