Later, Liz

It's the end of an era. Those violet eyes, the sweeping lashes, the ever buzzing interest surrounding her; Elizabeth Taylor was a tour de force, and like everyone else, despite her fame, she's gone. Famous people die all the time, but it never usually affects me the way Elizabeth Taylor's death did. There was always something about her, maybe it was her tenacity? Her I don't give a crap attitude? Her heart, her sense of self, her humor, her spirit, her talent...something about her always evoked my grandma Dorothy, who died 15 years ago. If they had met, I feel confident Elizabeth and Dorothy would have been girlfriends.

 Dorothy was a dead ringer for Judy Garland with a rollicking wit, a passionate sense of self, an overwhelming loveliness and an all-encompassing magnetism.  When she entered a room, she left an    impression. She did not walk softly. She shook the world around her. She . 

So in a sense, I've always felt a sort of connection to grandma via E.Taylor. Afterall, Grandma was a fan of E's. They were of the same stuff think; totally admirable, totally resilient. Now that both are gone, I find myself trying to find modern day women that encompass it all, and still manage to own who there are in the same way these two did. Sure, I know there are plenty out there (nods to you Skirt! nation), but I'm not seeing them often in my everyday life. It makes me sad.

Perhaps it's the struggles they both went through and survived helped them become so radiant. I can only base my knowledge on E about the various snippets I can read online or see on E! But I know personally my grandma had it rough: A mother who died young, a father who was an abusive drunk, seven siblings who never had enough to eat, the Depression, a vicious older sister; you get the picture. You probably have a grandma of your own just like her (or similar). But these women had grit, stealing from the famous movie title, they had TRUE grit. I can say it of Elizabeth. I can say it of Dorothy. Sure, they had their faults, their controversies. They stuck their feet in their mouths, but at the end of the day, they amounted to something worth remembering. 

Who can possibly achieve more than THAT?