FULL CIRCLE


When I first met Wonder Woman, I found out that she had at one time given away over $110, 000.00 divided in equal shares to 5 of her closest female friends (smaller amounts were given to several others). This money had been generously and willingly settled on her at the time of their divorce by her former husband. He had received an inheritance and had split that amount of money in half, settling about $150,000.00 on her. Thus began the first stories in the legend of Wonder Woman that had already started before my time.

She took her own generous gift and distributed it in an unconditional and generous manner to give at least 5 other women, with whom she had lived in close feminist and not separatist community, the opportunity to use this money to love themselves. She kept about an equal share for herself. By the time I met her in ’78, she was just finishing off the last dollars of her own share.

I was flabbergasted when first told this story. In those days cynical I wished I’d met her before the big money had floated off. I made a resolution on the spot to protect this now almost like me penniless and dear innocent from herself. Innocence was nice and all that good stuff, the poor misguided woo-woo woman! I would protect her from herself, all right! I used to be arrogant beyond belief!

One of the greatest gifts that I received from Wonder Woman has been the community of amazing women (and some men) that came along with her. Our 2 dearest friends from this community have been legally married for 2 years, and for 30 years before that they’ve been in a committed partnership. They are Claudia and Susan.

Claudia, who has been Wonder Woman’s particular best friend for 37 years, and is also like Wonder Woman a southern woman, was the first recipient of the money for loving herself that Rhoberta, who was born Barbara (who is Wonder Woman) gave over $20,000 to. She and Susan her brand new partner at the time, took that money, and starting with $15,000.00 of it became women of property starting in 1975.

Through the years they have parlayed that property into much more, including ocean front Oregon holdings, part of which they have just sold at a comfortable profit. Claudia is a graduate of the Princeton School of Divinity, and is a profoundly gifted and successful Astrologer. She has been a star actor and director of Community Theater along the northern coast of Oregon. She is an available spiritual counselor for her very large network of friends, and leads weddding celebrations, celebrations of life, and the ilk. She is a brilliant photographer, and makes the most unique collages. Her spouse Susan is a noted fine artist, a painter, who has her own Art Institute. She is a fine furniture and print maker, and has created for many of the coastal towns of Oregon, their distinctive carved and decorated wooden signs. The property that they sold was located right on the beach and used to house their successful vacation rental business.

We four have several traditions. One is that when we have birthdays, or when a Christmas passes and we are not able to celebrate it together, we save these dates up, and on a chosen calendar day that works for us each we have a combination saved up Birthday, Christmas gift giving blast in the flesh. We four gather at one of our homes and gift each other lavishly, and eat and drink like women who love good food and cooking and eating it together. We also love each others' beloved creature children and have between us 4 dogs and several cats, and we love the same kind of music, and the same kind of mystical games, and the same kind of films, and the same kind of philosophy and politics and restaurants, and we spend as many days in a row together as we can manage. But sometimes we can only have this happen for us together one time a year, and sometimes like this last celebration that we just had together, it has to even wait for a couple of years. This year's Merry/Happy was to occur from July 23-July 26, and was to be at our house here in San Francisco.

About 10 or so days before our date, Claudia called me when she knew that Rhoberta was not going to be home. She then informed me that from some of the proceeds from the sale of their property they had bought an annuity of $20,000.00 for Rhoberta, the interest of which they were going to have directly depositied into her account. For the next 4 years an amount of at least $400 a month was coming directly to Rhoberta. I had to supply all the bank etc. information to facilitate the receipt of this gift, and also help plan the presentation of it, and of course, keep this all secret from Wonder Woman herself. Claudia and I wept as we anticipated the impact of this amazing gesture to our Wonder Woman, the Queen of Loving Feelings.

How much are we creatures of our own perceptions? How often do we play out between our own two ears, and 'see real life' as if not just visualizing how life is going to appear for ourselves, and even assume it for others, too? And then how much do we imagine we can predict how it's all going to turn out? How much we are going to feel love glowing in our hearts and roiling in a rollicking wave of excitement through our bodies with blessed synchronicity? This sweet anticipation that we can foster, how often does it fall flat, however we have supported it with our hope? The imaginable in reality that crashes and leaves a depression even just if it's a dent, that we then can so quickly let our impressions siphon the energy force through. Sometimes I really do get how I am my own force that causes my own suffering, and sometimes that enlightened possiblity like lightening in the sky, just flashes through,leaving me the 'ooops' girl once again.

We met we kissed we ate we drank we ate again and talked and talked and talked, drank some more and talked some more, smoke got in our eyes and we took lots of memorable photographs. There were dozens and dozens of presents around our fake baby tree, and we glowed and laughed and cried and not until the last moment down at the coffee cafe at the corner before they were taking off did the words of utter satisfaction and the pleasure that was the gift from the gesture of life giving birth to more life emerged, coming from the lips and the being of the woman who is Wonder Woman.

It was like ending a 4 day labor to hear her say to Claudia and Susan, "the real gift to me was what you said about how receiving the money expanded your idea of what could be possible in the world, and that was the magical possibility that someone could share like that."

Indeed her gift of the gift to her started a flow, slow like and emerging like the soft creep of a new season subtle and familial and saying that goodness can be created from goodness and positive forces can emerge from unconditional acts of pure love and when they are repeated can be repeated perhaps again for someone else, unsuspecting and finding that they are among a stream of lovers after all...all that's left is to be able to take that love and love yourself with it as you would have yourself loved by another.

Wonder Woman her eyes having those precious sparkling tears that Claudia, Susan and now even I, had been watching for, had just found the right words to express her thanks to Claudia and Susan. In her deeply feeling and ever patient way she had let it all settle down and then spoke her potent realizations delivered to her consciousness from the seat of her heart. The four of us sat in the cafe bursting with respect and love for each other, and hoping once again for the rest of the world - trend setters still...being still without a contract and yet in a marriage together in love forever, loving ourselves as we would have others love us, too.