Life is Just an Apple Cider Donut
Life is Just an Apple Cider Donut
November 2020
By Susanne Liebich
Around this time of year, I think of my beautiful Aunt Anne. Her birthday is in November, and she also passed away one year ago this month. Anne was a dedicated teacher for most of her life. In her twenties and early thirties, she gallivanted her way across Greenland, France, England and the Philippines as a civilian teacher for the Air Force. When asked to recall some of her adventures overseas, she would do so with detail and expression. She loved drinking “chocolat chaud” in Paris and attending Christmas Eve Mass with her friends. When she lived in the Philippines, she went on a junket with a couple of servicemen and friends as they flew to another location to go dancing. After 7 years, she returned to the states, taught 4th grade, and lived a quiet and unassuming life for the rest of her years. Anne always displayed much gratitude for the little things, perfecting this art long before the mindfulness movement. Decades ago, she became an avid recycler. She wrote hundreds of thank-you and thinking-of-you cards, oftentimes with $10 or $20 enclosed, or perhaps an article of something interesting to let you know how important you were to her. On her 90th birthday, I surprised her with a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardener museum and then a memorable dinner at the Top of the Hub where they treated Anne like royalty. She was overjoyed with her birthday surprise and said it was the best birthday she’d had in years.
Last year, as her health was failing, she moved into an assisted living which was closer to me. I remember asking her what she would like to do one beautiful fall day, and she said, “I would love to have an apple cider donut.” We visited the wonderful Shelburne Farms Orchard in Stow just as peak foliage arrived, sat in their farmstand, ate fresh apple cider donuts and drank coffee. She took a walk around the little store and was enchanted with their homemade country knick-knacks and baked goods. This was one of our last outings as Anne died a few weeks later. Along with her love for apple cider donuts and the everyday wonders of life, she had a deep respect for all people and believed that we are all equal. She left an impact on me with her love, her humility, her wisdom and her gratitude. At her memorial service last November, I read a native American prayer which was tucked inside her Catholic prayer book. These are the words that have resonated with me, and which vividly recall Anne’s warm embrace, her genuine smile and pure spirit. You are with me, Anne…I will always love you.
The deer,
The horse,
The great eagle,
They are our brothers.
The earth is our mother.
All things are connected
Like the blood which unites one family.
Whatever befalls the earth,
Befalls the sons of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life.
He is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web,
He does to himself.
Chief Noah Seathl, 1854