By SUSAN DROMEY HEETER, Joyful Musings
When all else fails and life becomes overwhelming, I always turn to Jackie O. I read another biography, watch another Netflix series, escape to someone who really lived through so much. So, today I muse joyfully on Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and invite you for the ride.
First off, Jackie is long since gone; she died in 1994 and I watched her funeral from my apartment in Holland. They showed it live on CNN; a beautiful mass with Teddy Kennedy giving a heartfelt eulogy. There is nothing like a good funeral; Jackie’s was elegant, graceful and fitting for such an icon.
Currently, I am reading And They Called it Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton; it’s a page turner with no surprises, nothing I haven’t read before but it’s a read that proves comforting in a world with Covid, with masks, with quarantine. What would Jackie’s mask look like? Undoubtedly Hermes or Chanel, something fabulous – coupled with those huge sunglasses. She’d rock this quarantine, though I suspect her life would not have been that entirely different. If I had photographers chasing me round this globe, I’d have quarantined, too.
Years ago I read What Would Jackie Do? An Inspired Guide to Distinctive Living by Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway. I loved it – received a lot of inspiration that has helped me navigate this life. But, I do have to admit, when I am washing the floor, or picking up an M&M that has been on the ground for some time and then popping it in my mouth, I sometimes think, “Would Jackie do THAT?” But, for me, I wonder if she didn’t miss out on some of life’s simple pleasures: a dusty M&M, a newly washed floor.
It’s good to escape to Jackie’s world – currently I am at the part in Thorton’s read where she has married Ari Onassis. THAT did not sound so great but, man, he did give her some beautiful bling. And those Greek islands – they don’t sound too shabby. Maybe I’d have done the same thing; certainly Jackie’s quarantine gave her a great tan and privacy. I’d have sent Ari out to get coffee – in Siberia.
So, dear musers, I hope you have a wonderful place or person you have found helpful during this COVID-19. I also hope you have a Chanel mask and a huge pair of sunglasses. We don’t have to be happy about this time but there is no reason, absolutely no reason not to be stunningly fashionable. That, my friends, is what I believe Jackie would do. Of that I am certain.
Stay well. Stay healthy, wear your fabulous mask.