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Saturday, March 14, 2020

Sophisticated Lady


Rebecca Anne Stewart  & John Bishop

Right off the bat I will clarify that I never call women ladies in this 21st century. I have been informed that it is politically incorrect. The title of this blog is related to a lovely song by Duke Ellington.

Both my Rosemary and I will never be apologetic in considering ourselves to be snobs. It was my mother, when I was a little boy who would often say to me, “Alex hay poca gente fina como nosotros.” It sort of translates to, “There are few well-mannered and sophisticated people like us.

As humans we anthropomorphize things, animals and with humans we try to make them to be like us.
Such was the case when our first granddaughter, Rebecca Anne Stewart was born 22 years ago. 

Because her mother worked on Saturdays Rebecca was dropped off with us at a very young age. In this Polaroid I have found while thinning my files I note that I took the photograph on a Saturday. We would place her on a blanket and turn on the radio to CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.



As soon as Rebecca was old enough to travel we took her to American Hosta Society Conventions in the US including one in Washington DC. We traveled to Mexico (Guanajuato, Morelia, Mérida), Argentina , Uruguay and Texas (3 times)  with her in tow.

Last week I made a reservation at Bishop’s. I have previously written of this lovely restaurant here.
Rebecca and I showed up at 5:30 last Tuesday. John Bishop mentioned that all that Rebecca had ordered was daring. I can attest that she has eaten snake and lots of food I would never touch. She has a fondness for holding snakes, and bugs including spiders. Yes, she is adventurous.

Bishop sat down to chat several times during the evening and I was proud of the fact that Rebecca can hold up to scrutiny. For dessert she informed me that we had to have caffè corretto (espresso with grappa).

While Rebecca is my granddaughter, I also felt that I was in the company of a sophisticated woman who would have made my mother proud.