Smart Gals Sip

Lynn Meredith and Katherine McAllen (l-r)

Yours truly could have sat and listened for hours to Lynn Meredith and Katherine McAllen converse. Their discussion about the Jesuits made me want to rush out and buy a book about this mysterious and completely fascinating order of “God’s Marines!” - but back to Lynn and Katherine.

Before Lynn, Katherine and I met for drinks on the patio at the Four Seasons last Thursday, I actually knew more of Lynn than about her. I knew that she was notoriously sharp, and that she and her husband are former Dell-ites and active in many local philanthropic activities. But what I now know is that Lynn is also an enjoyable, interesting gal. We talked about blogging, kids, living downtown, the adorable necklace she was wearing and which I so coveted (see photo above), and lots of other things that gave me a tiny peek into her world.

Katie McAllen is my daughter’s sister-in-law, and one of my favorite people. She and her husband live and ranch in South Texas and have two precious little kiddos. I wanted Katie and Lynn to meet because of their mutual interest in the Blanton Museum. Katie is on the verge of completing her PhD in Art History at Harvard, and has made several talks at the Blanton, and Lynn and her family are great supporters of the Blanton.  Sure enough, the magic happened and before long Katie and Lynn had forged a relationship that I believe will lead to good things.

One of the “fun-est” things about bringing gals together is when we discover the “Kevin Bacon degrees of separation” between them. When I asked Katie where she and the family were staying while in Austin, she said, “We’re staying with Kay and Eric Moreland,” to which Lynn replied, “I just sent Eric an email this morning!”

As we were leaving, Katie told Lynn that she’d like to pick her brain sometime about the intricacies of board service. I later told Katie that she couldn’t find a better mentor. I know that when the going gets tough, savvy boards get Lynn. Bringing these two Very Smart Gals together wasn’t easy because they are both crazy busy, but it was completely worth the effort! 

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times – Chapter 69

#69 - "You can get away with wearing short hair because you have good features."
Photo is of me and my oldest granddaughter, taken this weekend at Amy's.
What mom was trying to teach me through #69, is not entirely clear to me,  but it feels like a backhanded compliment. Like the one I got from an 18-year-old cutie when I was 30-something, “You’re pretty sexy for an old lady.”

Mom was an enigma. She was a feminist and patriarchal, so #69 is typical of her teaching. She apparently didn’t think that women should wear short hair because it made them less feminine, but you could “get away with it” if you had good “features.”

One of the bases for Mom’s #69 was that she was always very self-conscious about her ears, which admittedly were a little large. I remember mom saying how relieved she was when I was born with small ears, as though I would have been tossed off a cliff if they were unacceptably large! Tragically, I think my ears are getting larger with age – especially my lobes, which after years of heavy earrings and jumping up and down to music at rock concerts (many years ago), have sagged to near-comical proportions. One of these days when I have money to burn (ha ha), I may have them reduced to little delicate petals!

And my nose - well, my dad used to say, “The reason the Wades have such big noses is because they keep them out of other people’s business and give them a chance to grow!” Mom and dad both had prominent noses, so I was inescapably destined to have a substantial schnoz. Click on Read More Below...