Beate Caspari--Rosen , born in Berlin on March 14, 1910, died 98 years ago today, on July 8, 1995 in Hamden, Ct. Visiting with her at the time were Dorothy Kaplan Roffman and her mother Aranka Kaplan. Aranka, though some years younger than Beate, was a childhood friend; their relationship deepened in the United States and was lifelong. My mother's death was immediate and painless and occured on a joyous occasion.
At the time of my mother's death I was in Brussels, and about to set off for a week in Paris to carry out research. When I learned what had happened, I left immediately for the United States.
Though thirteen years have passed the sorrow has not ceased: so much to relate, so much to show, so much still to talk about.
Beate or "Atta" in Berlin at age two? and in a drawing I made ca 1958/1959 (obviously guided by my interest in Picasso and Matisse).
from Autobiographical Essays by Beate Caspari-Rosen. For more see http://www.profkoslow.com/beatecasparirosen/index.html
Introduction
It is dangerous walking down memory lane and getting lost in the jungle of sideroads. No life follows a straight line, but the sun was always shining, and the birds were singing, and the flowers were blooming even in the deepest winter. What happened to that sophisticated girl who knew all the answers of right and wrong, of life and death. She read Tagore's love poems and Nietsche's philosophy, Plato, Marx, and Engels, and thought she knew it all. She who loved to dance into the early morning hours and flirted, an old fashioned word, which is now replaced with heavy words of “eye contact” and “body language.” Is that what we did?
One has to be careful when writing autobiographical notes not to overlook the heartache one exerienced, the gray and rainy days, and disappointments that occur during one's lifetime.
What an unworldly and dangerously innocent girl she was as she prepared for life.
No comments:
Post a Comment