Age-Esteemers Come In All Shapes And Sizes

I love to meet age-esteemers in different parts of the world. Here I am in Yvoire, France studying a newly found age-esteemer standing in front of one of the shops.

Age-esteemers come in all shapes and sizes, but they are easy to recognize. They draw people of all ages to them because they are happy and confident in being just who they are, their authentic selves.

Bonnie Fatio

Bonnie Fatio and Leonie van Daalen-Röell

Go, Not Knowing Where!

What a blessing to have friends who are true age-esteemers and continue to contribute to our world! Leonie van Daalen-Röell is one of these friends. Leonie, who is Dutch and living in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband of 60 years, originally wrote Go, Not Knowing Where! for her American grandchildren.

Leonie’s happy childhood days on her family’s sugar plantation in the Dutch East Indies colony quickly becomes the story of terror, separation and internment during World War II in Indonesian, a war area we seldom hear about. This is followed by the difficult return to Holland and readjusting to normalcy. It is her personal record based on memory and a multitude of personal letters.

Go, Not Knowing Where! is a captivating, real, and informative story about one girl’s life during the transformation of the Dutch East Indies colony into the independent country of Indonesia.

Do you also have a story worth telling? Your story might also represent a precious contribution to convey history as it was lived, just as this age-esteemer‘s has.

Bonnie Fatio

Albert Gallatin – Historical Age-Esteemer

I love to discover historical expositions that feature age-esteemers.  Albert Gallatin is one of these historical age-esteemers.

Few people know Albert Gallatin.  Certainly I don’t remember learning about him in history classes while growing up.  Yet this Swiss American was Secretary of the Treasure under both Presidents Jefferson and Madison, helped found New York University, was instrumental in the Louisiana Purchase, and was responsible for many improvements in the infrastructure such as roads within the United States.

Albert Gallatin left his home in Geneva, Switzerland at the age of 19.  From that time on he was active in the development of the “new world”.  He seemed to never stop.

At the age of 69 he was asked to run as Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with William Crawford.  The letter that Albert Gallatin wrote to say that he would not run for this office was on display at the Exposition Gallatin in Geneva, Switzerland, as was a letter written to Albert Gallatin in 1806 by Thomas Jefferson.

Looking at these amazing artifacts, I remember wondering what virtual artifacts will be saved in cyber space from our lives today.

Bonnie Fatio