happy birthday, dear audrey

I was about to shut this off for the night when I saw, on twitter, that today is Audrey Hepburn's birthday. She would have been only 82. It's hard to imagine: she died so, so young. And yet she feels so real and alive and present in my life.

There have been times, especially in the last year, when people have behaved, let's just say, badly. And - I swear - when I wanted to react, instead, I'd ask myself 'what would Audrey do'. And I know that she would behave with dignity, and not rise to the bait.



In December 2009, I had the privilege to be invited to a private preview at Kerry Taylor auctions, before an auction of Audrey Hepburn's clothing, from a young girl who knew her when she was first starting out as an actress. As Audrey had never had a daughter of her own, she gave this girl some of her best dresses, throughout her life. I did some posts on it: the experience really moved me.



So many tributes, and great quotes, like this one from @Miss_Dafne_Dior:
"I never think of myself as an icon. What is in other people's minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing."

Or this one, from @WomenOfHistory: "For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people."

But perhaps my favourite re-quote, from @Nerizzle:
Happy girls are the prettiest girls ~ Audrey Hepburn