My Love Messages In The Glass Like Penrhyn Castle’s Window Pane By Alice Douglas

You’re probably really going to think about this one by the time you get to the ending. Since this is the month of luuuuuuuv (love), I thought that I would throw in an usual love story along with a personal story.

100 Year Old Message Etched In Penrhyn Castle’s Window Pane By Alice Douglas

Let me first tell you the story of Alice Douglas.

Lady Alice Douglas Pennant was born in 1863 as the second daughter of wealthy industrialist, Lord Penrhyn, George Douglas-Pennant. In the late 1800’s they lived in Penrhyn Castle located in North Wales and is in the form of a Norman castle.

The father and daughter had a falling out around 1880 when she was a teenager. It is thought that perhaps the reason was because Lady Alice fell in love with a gardener who was one of the castle staff. Since she was a royal Lady and he a simple commoner, it would not be an approved union by Lord Penrhyn. That is why Lady Alice was forced to stay away from her love and thus spent her time in the nursery.

Sounds like Rapunzel, doesn’t it?

Anyway, Lady Alice scratched “essere amato amando” in the window pane at Penrhyn Castle. The scratched message if translated means, “to be loved, whilst loving.”

I don’t think that this story has a very happy ending. Lady Alice became an artist and upon her death at age 76, she was still unmarried.

Someone please pass me a tissue. Make that a Puff’s tissue with lotion and I will just suffer with the smeared lotion glasses.

(wiping tears)

The Housekeeping Improvement

I belong to a family full of clean freaks. I love clean, but I’m not a clean freak which I think is a generational improvement. You know, it is one of those things that you said as a child that you would never do when you grew up. I promised myself that I would not be a clean freak. I vowed that I would think of a better way to keep things clean than spending all day Saturday with a vacuum, dust cloth or paper towels in my hands. I did think of a better way to keep my home clean and I call it carefree timelessness. I’ve practiced this style of living ever since I moved out of my mother’s home and it works soooooo well.

One of the clean freak rules is that at no time was I supposed to touch mirrors or glass. Fingerprints were never allowed. It was impossible for me not to touch glass especially in the car. With the weather cold outside against the window glass and my breath hot on the inside of the glass, a fog of condensation appeared which beckoned me to “touch it.” I usually obliged.

Sometimes I would only let my fingertip make a small circle on the glass, but at other times I went hog wild and wrote words like crazy. I never outgrew the desire to write on mirrors and glass windows, so as an adult, when I feel so inclined, I write until my heart’s contented.

As I see it, the mess I create on the glass is easy to clean and brings so much happiness that it would be a shame to waste the opportunity.

My Love Message In The Glass

When Brittany and Alyssa were growing up, I encouraged them to write, color, paint and draw all the time. Alyssa loved the blue Crayola crayon best. Ahhhh, such fond memories.

I also found many different ways to convey my messages especially with emotions that were most tender in my heart. So it won’t be a surprise when I tell you that I often would write a message of love on the foggy bathroom mirror after I was finished with my shower. Then the next time that my husband would take a shower and fog the mirror, he would find my love note to him.

Seize the moment. Yes, cast aside any preconceived notions you may have about the “rules.” Those rules could be robbing you of some of the happiest, most memorable and carefree moments in life. So write on the bathroom mirror and leave a note to the people you love and hold dear to your heart. A simple expression of those emotions can brighten their day and make your relationship even stronger to ensure that you will continue “to be loved, whilst loving.”