MY FRIEND ROBERTA...ALMOST A CONFESSION !

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

MY FRIEND ROBERTA...ALMOST A CONFESSION !

I should talk a little about my friend Roberta.

She's a wonderfully creative and gifted creature. She built a whole business out of nothing (in lingerie).  She's lovely and loyal and, probably, a little too candid.

We've been friends since our childhood. Same age, same tastes in music and arts.

She had lovers of both sexes (although never only for sex).

Then she started attending bad places and bad people. People who were after her money and her position in society. In brief, she started having problems. Drank too much with the aim to (supposedly) be funny even when she didn't feel like it. And then...she chose other solutions, when wine and heavier drinks didn't perform (in her mind).

We got apart as my recommendations and advice - to get away from such crowd - seemed to her to be bad advice born out of envy for her supposedly-brilliant-crowd. Already, her intellect and lucidity were fading.

To make a long story short...a police squad found her one early morning. She had fallen off a high bridge as she was driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

As she had no family and I was on her documents as the person to be notified, I took her into my care. It was not a big job, believe me. I'm no hero (I don't like the word heroin in this context).

I just - slowly and quietly- brought Roberta back to the times when we had dreams and ethics and when we were keeping a skeptical and even critical eye on people and events; when we were saying that we would NEVER-EVER bend our knees in front of  a system, be it a fashion- or a society- or a star-system. And what's that supposed to mean anyway ?????

Today, I'm happy to say, she stopped being the widely-known entrepreneur. But she's again a much-seeked-for-designer and she's creating lovely collections for top-ranking lingerie companies. She's also an excellent advertising and photographic consultant and in some of the best collections you can see on the web there are many of her creations.

She's learnt a lesson. Don't do what other people are asking of you. Do what gives you pleasure and fulfills you. Do what you know how to do best.

That always has been and still is my "credo".
Not a bad one, is it ?