Esther & Handsome women

Esther and other ‘handsome’ women

Dedicated to the many ‘Esthers’ of this world who’ve passed my way

Ever see somebody and think,“that person’s name fits them”? In the never ending panorama of doctors being interviewed about the world’s most popular virus came a doctor named Esther Choo. The name Esther just fitted her. She just looked like an Esther (for you non-biblical scholars, the original Esther has her own book in the Old Testament).

 

It is my old habit, derived from writing too many words for too many years to find out the too many things I’m thinking, but found myself looking for one word to describe her. The word which occurred to me is of very archaic usage, always used as a high complement, and now seen only in old western movies: Dr. Esther is a ‘handsome’ woman.

‘Handsome’ is rarely used today as a feminine description, and it doesn’t necessarily refer to what in America we commonly call “beauty”. Rather, it denotes one’s observation of a woman with visible strength of character, determination, self-assurance. A woman who thinks highly enough of herself to take the effort to appear ‘special’. One might politely observe ‘handsome’ encompasses a certain number of years, a degree of experience with life, and an innate ability to know when to reveal one’s wisdom and when to demur.

Naturally my “thinking” led to an attempt to remember the ‘handsome’ women I’ve known. These are the few whom ‘off top of my head’ I remembered:

Of those met since we came to Indiana in 1996 two stick out in my business dealings, Lynne Llewellyn and Jeanne Burris, both from The Brazil Times.

Mostly, though, are the women of Christ Community Church. Kay and I used to have a thing between us, one or the other pointing out women who fit the ‘handsome’ description. Over the years our ‘list’ included Laura Carter, Julia Fine, Kathy Deal, Karen Webb, Sarah Russell, Julie Thistle, Beth Hines, Jennifer Ripple, ‘adopted niece’ Cathy Seward, and ‘fill-in as needed daughter’ Rachel Jones.

Yes, there are many others whose names do not leap readily to an old man’s memory, but these stand out as I ‘think’ this through. For most it would also be quite proper to call them ‘beautiful Christian women’. That, however, is a thought for a coming day.