Thursday, August 6, 2009

Grace in Everyday Life: A blog gathering in honor of Jackie

Welcome to the blog gathering on grace in everyday life in honor of a most gracious public figure now passed from our orbit...



Please use the box at bottom to leave your post on grace below. Please be sure your post links back to this post at Blushing Hostess.

And a graceful announcement: Please also note that on Thursday, August 13th, and all Thursdays forward, Blushing Hostess will host the Etiquette Challenge Workshop. A new graceful challenge will be posted each week. You can solve the dilemma of the week along with me. Follow Blushing Hostess for regular reminders on the left side of this page. I will also Tweet the challenge for those on Twitter.

And now for the graceful thought of the day here at Blushing Hostess:

"But since this book is primarily about entertaining, my great wish is that our readers will receive from her example a dose of inspiration and start entertaining at home. We have been doing less and less of this as we near the end of the millennium, which is sad, because to entertain is to give of oneself. It is a kindness.

In her private life, before and after the White House, Jackie understood this well. A host helps cheer up those who sit around her table. A host disseminates information and happy gossip, finds solutions to problems, gives everyone many opportunities to laugh or at least smile, and creates a setting where new relationships can evolve into lasting friendships.

We may not be born entertainers like the Kennedy's were but we can keep remembering what a giving pursuit the art of entertaining is, and how much better it is to be a giver... I must say that no one had a better time at the Kennedy parties than the hosts themselves. With their appreciation of history unfolding right before their eyes, and with their sense of style, they made an indelible impression on their country and the world."




- The closing thoughts of Letita Baldridge, Social Secretary to the John F. Kennedy administration, In The Kennedy Style

The following blogs are participating in Grace in Everyday Life:

7 comments:

Deanna said...

Dear Blushing, I will get the hang of this challenge. Please bare with me and I shall try my best to participate in this challenge.
Blessings,
d

Gwennie said...

I loved thinking about who my person of grace would be... and then it came to me, another Jackie. Jackie Robinson was a man of grace. Thanks for doing this challenge.

P.Gaye Tapp at Little Augury said...

I am so happy to join you I hope to improve my own ability to entertain with grace. Jackie and Grace are two stellar examples. I bet Grace will be repeated time and again with you participants.G

Sydney Carver Snyder said...

She is my role model. Timeless, classic, well mannered.

Eileen said...

I agree with the excerpt you used. Thanks for the opportunity to participate!
My 'Grace in Everyday Life' are everyday women.
All the best,
Eileen

Bill said...

Sorry to be late joining your party. I did want to participate however. Rather than writing about a person in my own life, I shared a story I read years ago about the impact Jackie Kennedy had on the life of a person we all know (or thought we knew).

I always enjoy your posts!

Mrs. Wright said...

How fun to encourage simple the practice of kindness. Many moons ago I wrote a column called "Entertaining With Grace"...the response I received was proof that people were hoping to find there way back to grace. That was in 1991! Jackie has been an inspiration for so many...the very book you suggested sits silently on my kitchen book shelf and over the years it has afforded me new insights and wonderful afternoon and evening parties.