Have you ever met a strong female role model?
Strong female role models have blazed the trail for many women to excel in ways they never imagined possible.
Aunt Effie came into my life two decades ago, as a side character.
She was an elderly relative of my friend, a role model from a distance.
Though I can’t recall many details of my life, I have frequent memories of Aunt Effie, particularly her 20-year-old skin.
Despite her being 90+ years of age, her spirit was even younger than her looks.
The few nights I stayed in her home, I remember that she religiously followed a facial regimen.
Many role models stay young at heart
I asked her how she managed to stay looking so young.
She told me that she’d simply applied Pond’s facial cream every evening before bed for fifty years or more.
It’s only today, after all these years, that I remembered her name. I don’t know why.
Aunt Effie, Effie Adams Brickhouse, struck me as a very independent woman. She was a trailblazer of her time.
According to limited online records, she was appointed Tyrrell County’s first female postmaster, a position she held from 1936 to 1976.
While postmaster, she was elected president of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States.
She died in 2002, at 97 years of age. Again, defying odds–outliving average life expectancy.
Who do you want to follow?
I wanted to be like her. She was a strong female role model. She knew no bounds when it came to her career.
Strong, independent, and mentally sharp, she was driven to courageously take the road less traveled.
I think I was 19 or 20 at the time of our introduction. My soul was aging in reverse. Something about the mystery of her graceful seniority had an allure I couldn’t resist.
But looking back, I also remember the feeling of sadness I had in her home. Her house hadn’t aged so gracefully during her years of not being able to care for it as well.
There were weeds, rotting wood, and a family of cats coming and going freely. The smell of urine and mustiness hung like a thick layer of dread just above my deep-seated appreciation for Aunt Effie’s life well lived.
We are all aging, some souls faster than others.
Do you leave a good impression on other women looking for a role model?
Scents of our life, whether good or bad, young or old, leave impressions on those around us. Sometimes we don’t realize the impact we’re making and who’s watching.
How are you being remembered decades removed from chance encounters?
Who is thinking of you as a role model today? Who have you seen as a female role model through the years?
Have you started using Pond’s cream on your face?
Are you taking better care of yourself because you witnessed someone else emanating irresistible life and youth?
Thank you, Aunt Effie, for the eternal impression you’ve left behind on this world–as a strong female role model.
