I’m nowhere near 80, but I love imagining that to be there and beyond is to nonetheless still be full of passion and vitality. Canobie Films at www.canobiefilms.org offers three independent documentaries on extraordinary women over the age of, shall we say, spring chicken. By a few decades.
Throwing Curves, for instance, tells the fascinating story of Eva Zeisel, a 102-year-old ceramic artist who has had the kind of life that, well, movies are made from. Born in Hungary, imprisoned in a Soviet camp, escaping the Nazis, establishing herself as a successful and renowned artist in New York City, Ms. Zeisal is an example of a life well-lived in ways we can all learn from.
Hats Off, on the other hand, tells the hilarious and quirky story of Mimi Waddell, an irrepressible force of nature voted as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in New York – at the age of 90.
Yes, I wrote 90. As in, years old.
Finally, there’s the charming tale of Martha and Ethel, exploring the complicated and poignant ”dynamic family relationships set against the backdrop of changing American attitudes toward parenting styles, [and] the role of women in society, race and class,” as Canobie Films describes.
Each of us has the capacity to use the palette of our ongoing lives to make a work of art out of our years to come. I read a lovely Guatemalan proverb, “Everyone is the age of their heart.” Perhaps that’s the secret of “eternal” youth.