Encouraging a list-maker.

When I was about nine, my father had a colleague named Marie Tashima who loved children but had never married or had her own.

Daddy would drop me off at Marie Tashima’s house, and we’d have tea — she had a blue porcelain tea set from Japan — and she’d show me wonders of the world, like how to make Origami fans … play with delicate rice paper stationery,  look at art … and enjoy the quiet beauty of her abode.

I was endlessly happy with Marie Tashima, and I think part of my desire to be in touch with Cate Ferrall, who’s about that same age now, is my memory of how important a role Marie played in my young life.

She taught me about stillness and going inward, she encouraged my interest in paper,

and I am forever grateful to her for taking interest in a small girl who came

from a large, busy family and

needed a bit of personalized, Zen attention.