Kitty, I Forgive You

      1/1/15

   How you remember Kitty Carlisle, if you remember Kitty Carlisle

   Hart, will probably depend on your age. If you’re over 70, you

   may remember her as the Marx Brother’s costar in films like

  “A Night At The Opera,” or as a star of operettas and Broadway

   musicals. 

   If you’re younger than that, you may remember her as the 

   be-gowned and bejeweled panelist on To Tell The Truth.  Or

   as the long time Chairperson of the New York State Council

   of the Arts.

   Well, to tell the truth, I didn’t much think about her one way or

   the other until after she died and I read her obituary in the 

   New York Times. Along with  a list of accomplishments and 

   performing credits, there was this nugget of wisdom from Kitty:

   She greeted each new day by studying herself in the mirror and 

   saying, “Kitty, I forgive you!” 

   I tried it for a few days, hoping it would help ease

   my overactive conscience, but honestly it just felt

   ridiculous. Still, it’s a philosophy and a ritual I greatly

   admire, and I’m hoping 2015 is the year that I truly

   embrace it, in spirit if not in practice.