Remembering Barbara

Heavy, heavy sigh.... I will be the first to admit it’s a challenge to consider this, 
to construct my final farewell to a friend, a prominent member of the Lehigh Valley arts community, a woman who made a lasting, impactful and enduring impression.
I feel grateful for her presence in my life for nearly 30 years …
and I grieve the loss of this beautiful, vivacious MOVER & SHAKER   whose very being, her indomitable FORCE influenced many, countless, numbers of people in our community.

Barbara in her beloved Paris!

     Barbara Pearson, renowned as the Lehigh Valley's Grande Dame De La Danse, was extremely well versed in theater as well as all styles of dance from baroque to ballet and everything in between *and* she made it a point to share her enthusiasm for the art as well as champion the educational opportunities available through the discipline of dance.

     In fact, we shared a passion for arts education.  In addition to the desire to share our dance knowledge with teachers and students in the classroom, we also worked together on a Lehigh Valley Arts Council initiative compiling and editing a collection of artists’ bios for ArtLinks, an Arts-in-Education Resource Book for Lehigh Valley educators.  

     Barbara celebrated and encouraged me to perform, share my passion and develop my own unique pedagogy of North African, Middle & Far Eastern drumming and dance traditions.   Her “stamp of approval” opened many doors for me, a newcomer to the Lehigh Valley way back when. During the years our friendship deepened and I was blessed to be a guest at her home where she always entertained as THE hostess with the mostess!  A perfectly set dining table and delicious meal would soon give way to clearing it all away … Yes!  You guessed it:   to make room for her guests to dance!

Among my fondest memories is one in which Barbara was decked out in a dazzling silver ensemble reciting a Birthday Rap she composed and recited for my son’s 13th birthday celebration!

Another was the compassionate way she responded when she found out that my husband had left, abruptly ending our thirty-year marriage.  She came knocking on my door the very next day with a basket full of delicious lunch goodies and a bottle of wine.   I learned a lot from that experience because I had never before known anyone going through divorce, not in my family nor among my friends ~ so I learned from her what friends do for one another in that situation and I'll never forget it!

I was happy when Barbara, who loved all things French, met *and married*  a French-speaking Belgian with whom she enjoyed many happy years of travelling and spending time with their respective grandchildren.  

Our hearts go out to you Victor. Your doting and devotion demonstrate your true love and loyalty, treasured qualities in one’s spouse, indeed.    Bless you! 

And speaking of family, both Barbara’s sons Vincent & Arthur were off to college when our friendship began and Mary was a teen busily finishing up high school … but over the course of the final weeks Barbara was alive, I was blessed with the opportunity to become quite close with Barbara’s daughter.  The bond between Barbara and I deepens through Mary.  

May you all carry wonderful memories of your mother and may your children’s children be reminded of her often.  💖💖💖

Indulge me if you will, a few more cherished memories (among oso many) ~ for ex.,  two summers ago in the Bethlehem Sculpture Garden:  Barbara in a pink hat and me in a turquoise top sharing smiles as we were sa-wishing our hips side by side to salsa music played by Hector Rosado and his band!  Mary, you were there that summer’s eve, remember?

Barbara and I circled the Artist’s Way several times with various women:  Christine Ortwein, Donna Haney, Kathryn Williams Craft, Susan Kolar, Susan Meixell, Joan Garber, and Deborah Sacarakis.

Ultimately those gatherings evolved into a book club and celebrations of momentous occasions ~  including for example, the publication of her first novel by the author in our group ~ Kathryn Williams Craft!

… and of course everyone in the dance community gathered together to participate in a surprise impromptu dance in celebration of Dawn Ketterman Benner’s retirement from Moravian ….. and Barbara didn’t miss the opportunity to show off her FABULOUS dancer’s legs!

The last social occasion I shared company with Barbara was in early September 2017 at a book club gathering in Susan Kolar’s kitchen.  Susan remembered Barbara arriving with a basket full of shells inviting each of us to pick one and then she read a passage from Anne Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea:

“We walk up the beach under the stars. We feel stretched, expanded to take in their compass. They pour into us until we are filled with stars, up to the brim. This is what one thirsts for, I realize, after the smallness of the day….
one thirsts for the magnitude and universality of a night full of stars...” 
                                                

― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea 

.... and that reminds me of an Eskimo legend...

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy. 

Ram Dass said:   Death is not an error.  It is not a failure.  It is taking off a tight shoe.

Goodbye dear friend ~ Don your feathery wings and fly high above the mental, emotional, and material realms  |  Free of all the ties that bind us  | Travel  farther  than we ever thought possible |  lifted by all the LOVE we your friends and family hold in our hearts for you, dear Barbara.

In Celebration of knowing *YOU*
I SHAKE THE SYSTRUM
Sššt Sššt Sššt Sššt

mmmmmmm we're crying as they ease you down....

I thought you'd always be around...

Thought we'd be laughin' & dancin' 

well into our nineties, maybe beyond.

Rest in peace my friend ~ your friends and family carry you in our hearts ALLways and your children's children will be reminded of you often