FOF forward and back

It’s not always easy having a mother as beautiful, talented, disarming, and opinionated as Edith Levin. Even at 97, this mother knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it.

I introduced all my FOF friends to Edith a few weeks ago, after meeting her at the nail salon. Yesterday, at lunch in her apartment, I had the pleasure of meeting her FOF daughter, Joan. We had a lovely Cobb salad, served on beautiful floral china, and were surrounded by Edith’s wonderful floral paintings. We had strawberries and little lemon tarts for dessert.

Although Joan confesses to a few bumps in the road in her relationship with Edith, she clearly loves her and admires her talent,  spunk and spirit.  A talent in her own right, Joan has done just fine for herself. She’s been happily married to her second husband, David, for 20 years (he’s the president of Long Island University), has three accomplished children (a professor, a social worker and a financial executive) and a bunch of grandchildren.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England, Joan wanted to sing and act, but did not pursue a career after marrying and becoming a mother. Now, with her husband’s encouragement and support,  she is using her talents to create CDs for significant events, including her grandchildren’s birthdays and her mother’s 90th. She’s also recorded CDs with her favorite songs, including Irving Berlin’s I Got Lost In His Arms, from Annie Get Your Gun.

Joan commutes between a home in Long Island, where her husband works, and Manhattan, where she lives in an apartment building constructed by her dad, Edith’s first husband (there were three, as well as a couple of paramores over the years.)

Joan’s daughter, Debbie, and her grandchildren, Milena and Tony, came over for a short visit during the luncheon. It gave me a chance to take a photo of four generations of women. Cool. Women like this are simply the best!