Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
It was the last place she thought anyone would look for her.
Or the first. Depends.
If they knew the story of her grandmother, after whom she was named, then they’d surely make a beeline to the cottage. But most people did not know. Or forgot. And she herself hadn’t been particularly good at telling the story that as a child had made her feel bland and timid in comparison to her grandmother’s girlhood bravery and independence, and as an adult made her feel as if she was seeking to gain attention by association and not merit.
So when people asked: “Heidi, like the girl in the story?” she would just nod or shrug or at the most say, “perhaps, eh?”
She let her heritage become a secret.
Perhaps that will end up allowing her fresh air, away from everyone’s demands, at her great-great-grandpa’s ancient yet secluded Maienfeld house.
For What Pegman Saw: Maienfeld, Switzerland
Na'ama Yehuda 
Looks like a nice place to hide, beautiful country environment.
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It does, doesn’t it?!! 🙂
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🌝🌺🌻🌺🦋
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🙂
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How taxing it must be to live in the shadow of a famous relative, and be expected to be his/her equal. Bad enough following a clever sibling.
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I think that living in the shadow of another – be it in actually perception – is very difficult. All too often people feed into it, not realizing that they are leaving little room for the other person to be themselves and not just defined by a another’s achievements or proximity.
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Yea. As with the younger sibling being told, Why can’t you be like … insert name. Or worse is to likened unfavourably to a beloved deceased sibling.
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Yes, it can be a burden, and one that adults need to be very careful to not place on children’s shoulders. I have a friend who grew up in the shadow of a sibling who had died before she was born. There was no way she could ever measure up to the idealized memory that child. It was another tragedy, in my view.
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Yea. I’m a parent myself. We don’t always think. Not to easy to point a finger at those who did it to you.
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Being human means to be imperfect and to make unintentional boo-boos. Hopefully one also does their best to be as aware as they can, and to keep communication channels as open as one can, so that repair can take place when a wounding had happened. We all point fingers sometimes, and we need to be open to having them pointed at us … and to discussing the implication of both …
🙂
Life’s complicated … eh?
Na’ama
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Yea. no comment on that. 🙂
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🙂
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I love the psychological insight of this story, as well as the lucid writing. You have used sentences of very different lengths which both emphasises different aspects of the story and gives a pleasing rhythmic variety. The sentence “She let her heritage become a secret,” is a gem, precisely summing up what came before, and leading on to the satisfying conclusion.
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Thank you, Penny! I love your insightful analytic comments! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you for pointing out how the structure and pace and wording worked. Yay!! 🙂 THANKS! Na’ama
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Yes, hard to live in someone’s shadow and still be yourself. Let’s hope she finds a way to create herself, free of other’s perceptions but proud of her heritage. Great take on the prompt
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Thank you, Lynn! I hope the same for her, and I hope the magic of that cottage and location will help her find her way and be herself even whilst accepting and celebrating her lineage. 🙂
Great comment! 🙂
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My pleasure 🙂
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🙂
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As others have already said, you do a wonderful job of portraying the pitfalls of growing up in the shadow of a famous relative, and the reasons someone might want to downplay or even hide that connection.
I also agree that it looks like a lovely cottage to have a retreat in! Although perhaps in the summer rather than in the dead of winter…
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Thanks, Joy, and yes! Totally true about the summer versus winter thing! I think Penny wrote beautifully in her story about a winter scene and it surely did not come across as an inviting retreat … 😉
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Very true — I most definitely would not want to be in the ‘”retreat” of that story!
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Yeah … brrrr … 😉
Cold and hunger don’t go well with a ‘retreat’ idea …
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Great story. Karen has been re-reading Heidi lately (hence the location choice). I really like this idea.
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Yeah, always loved the story myself — can’t remember how many times I’d read it as a child, and later as a young adult, and then to children in recent years. 🙂
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I loved the little piece about as an adult her grandmother’s life made her feel as if she was seeking to gain attention by association and not merit. I think a lot of folks do that.
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🙂 I’m glad you liked it! Yes, I think sometimes people seek glory by-proxy but I wonder how often there are those who prefer to not say who they are related to, because they want people to be interested in them for themselves, not for who they may be associated with. For this Heidi, I hope she finds herself, and her ease, and a place of balance between past and present. 🙂
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Let’s wish that for her.
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Amen! 🙂
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Very good story, indeed! 🙂 ❤ ~Shalom, Bear
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Thanks! I’m glad you liked it! 🙂 Shalom back! 🙂
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As a Heidi fan, I love where you took this. I hope she gets what she’s after!
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Me three! 🙂
Thanks, Karen! 🙂
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