The Duchess and other Grand Ladies
During our journey through life, we meet many people along the way. Some are in our lives for only a short time and yet the impact they make is life changing. There were many women who helped me become the person I am, but the most dramatic of them was "The Duchess". I was in my twenties and she was in her eighties when I met this grand lady. I lived across the street from her home in Norfolk, VA for a couple of years. From the first day I saw her, before she spoke a single word to me, she began teaching me lessons that would stay with me throughout my life.
She was born in a great plantation house on Avery Island in Louisiana at the turn of the century.
Her first husband was a Diplomat so she lived in Europe for several years.She was the hand ...