O.Henr y Ending

Joyful Expectations

Art, like life, is in the eye of the beholder

Lindsay Moore ( lef t) and h er Aunt Sallie

By L i n d say Mo or e

“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a ver y good thing to do, there was a mo ment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called. — A.A. Milne

Whether negative or positive, expectations are part of what makes us human.

In the United States, most people have positive expectations f rom mid-November to New Year’s Eve. Filled with excitement and anticipation, they f uel their minds and spir its with hope amid the sor rows and challenges of life.

My Aunt Sallie, a native of Mayodan, lived ever y day with expectancy. In 1979, she moved to Greensboro. By age 36, she had opened an ar t galler y and had become a founding member of the Greensboro branch of the English-Speak ing Union, ser ving in 1986 as a delegate to the World Conference in E dinburgh, Scotland.

T hese events were sig nificant because when my aunt was 16, she was diag nosed with juvenile diabetes. At the time, the medical world estimated her life expectancy would be about 40. However, the medical world had g rossly underestimated her expectations.

W hile over time her disease diminished her qualit y of life — she slowly lost her sight and had k idney and pancreas transplants — it never lessened her expectant spir it. In her 62 years, my aunt ser ved as president of the Greensboro Opera. She also worked for the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, where she implemented the annual orchestral prog ram in Rock ingham Count y’s public schools — the ver y school system that had educated us. Encourag ing my ow n expectations was also a large par t of her mission.

O ne of my f avor ite memor ies wa s our t r ip in 20 0 4 to t he N.C . Museum of A r t in R a leig h. My aunt had b e en inv ite d by t he d ire ctor to a pr ivate v iew ing of t he Pic a sso -Mat isse ex h ibit. She a ske d me to join her so I c ou ld v isua l ly descr ib e t he pa int ings to her. W h i le I of fere d my obser vat ions, my aunt’s spir it g rew w it h excite ment. A s she share d her ow n t houg ht s, she inspire d in me a n abi lit y to se e t he f a m i l iar pa int ings in a way t hat I had never ex p e c te d. Despite b eing bl ind, she saw t he pa int ings, not w it h her sig ht , but by using sensor y memor y.

She made the work s of ar t come alive in a way that neither my textbook s nor my professors had anticipated.

My aunt could see more because she employed her senses of taste, sound and smell to deepen her exper ience with the paintings. She remembered food she had tasted, music she had heard and text ure she had felt dur ing her travels and life exper iences. She related these to each painting’s cult ural her itage, enabling me to see it in a new light. Her senses enhanced the beaut y she saw in the world through her soul and mind rather than her eyes.

For many, the time following the holidays is dif ficult because the days are cold and of ten do not of fer joy f ul expectations. However, when I reflect on my aunt’s expectant spir it, I am inspired to expect joy dur ing seasons that might other wise seem unbearably dark. Like her, some people live with dark, seemingly hopeless circumstances. However, when we live like my Aunt Sallie and share our lives and talents with joy f ul expectancy, we inspire others to exper ience and share the same joy.

Expectations color our exper ience. T hey fill us with dread or excitement. T hey af fect how we exper ience events. We of ten hear the phrase “choose joy,” but perhaps you might prefer to follow my Aunt Sallie’s life and expect joy. OH

T hough living alongside the Mayo River in Rockingham County, Lindsay Moore is connected to Greensboro through the spirit of Howard Coble and her love of the local ar ts scene.