“At words poetic, I’m so pathetic
That I always have found it best,
Instead of getting ‘em off my chest,
To let ‘em rest unexpressed,
I hate parading my serenading
As I’ll probably miss a bar,
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it’ll tell you
How great you are.
You’re the top!
You’re the Coliseum.
You’re the top!
You’re the Louver Museum.
You’re a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You’re a Bendel bonnet,
A Shakespeare’s sonnet,
You’re Mickey Mouse.
You’re the Nile,
You’re the Tower of Pisa,
You’re the smile on the Mona Lisa
I’m a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I’m the bottom you’re the top!
Your words poetic are not pathetic.
On the other hand, babe, you shine,
And I can feel after every line
A thrill divine
Down my spine.
Now gifted humans like Vincent Youmans
Might think that your song is bad,
But I got a notion
I’ll second the motion
And this is what I’m going to add;
You’re the top!
You’re Mahatma Gandhi.
You’re the top!
You’re Napoleon Brandy.
You’re the purple light
Of a summer night in Spain,
You’re the National Gallery
You’re Garbo’s salary,
You’re cellophane.
You’re sublime,
You’re turkey dinner,
You’re the time, the time of a Derby winner
I’m a toy balloon that’s fated soon to pop
But if, baby, I’m the bottom,
You’re the top!”
~from Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top”

I love wearing this, her apron, in the kitchen. Channeling her irreverance and nurture. "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think." -Dorothy Parker

Our beloved Grandma Kitty went home earlier this year.  I was honored to paint her portrait, above. In her gaze you see the complexity– fiesty and fierce, her wit matched the grit she lived with as a single mother raising six children, bearing through the sadness of losing her partner too soon.  My cousins and I recorded her favorite poem to images of her life for our parents.

My father, her eldest, wrote her obituary:

Carolee “Kitty” Scott Katskee of Danville, CA and formerly of Park Forest and Homewood, IL slipped quietly from this life on Sunday, January 2012 at San Ramon Medical Center in Danville, CA.

Kitty, nee Carolee Lois Wunderlich, was born in Colorado on April 2, 1929 to Grace Derby and Cecil Wunderlich. In 1948, Kitty married a Chicagoan, Howard A. Scott, a WWII veteran, and settled in the south suburbs of Chicago to begin raising a family. Kitty and Howard had six children, each of whom has survived Kitty: Bill of Rantoul, IL; Mark of Wilmington, DE; Paul of Los Altos, CA; David of College Station, TX; Adam of Alamo, CA; and Anna of Oakland, CA.

Howard died suddenly in 1965 leaving Kitty to raise these six children alone and raise them she did. As a mother, Kitty gave and gave and gave, because love must give. Kitty later married Alan Katskee who, for his love of Kitty, got the bonus of helping support these six step-children.

To come to Kitty’s home was to be welcomed with an attitude of love and acceptance. Each of Kitty’s children’s spouses: Kathryn Kutz, Lois Bates, Maude Coleman, Susan Gamble, Nicki Newlon and Stan Hindman were so welcomed by Kitty and they loved her right back. Kitty treasured her 16 grandchildren: George Bates, Tom Bates, Kristine Scott Donovan, Lyndsey Scott, Patrick Scott, Daniel Scott, Rachel Scott, Vincent Scott, Molly Scott, Mark Scott, Luke Scott, Natalie Scott, Annie Scott, Jonah Scott, Cylus Hindman and Mattie Hindman. Gramma Kitty or “GK” was able to connect with each of her grandchildren in ways that made each of them realize they were each “her heart. Thus far, Kitty has four great grandchildren, Abigail, Lilly, Thomas and Samantha. Given the opportunity she would no doubt tell them, “you’re the tops, you’re the coliseum,” all the while making them “dippy eggs” or some other culinary delight.

Kitty was a voracious reader and a five star chef. Remembered mostly though will be a resolve that was steeled by life’s vicissitudes, a resolve to love. Kitty learned much at the school of hard knocks. She imparted pithy bits of wisdom gleaned by her family from her life’s experiences such as “pretty is as pretty does”, “if you have nothing good to say about someone, say nothing” and “life is too short to…” Indeed, 82 years of life for our dearest Kitty was, in fact, too short. Still, memories of Kitty and the example of her ” life well lived” will live on in our hearts.