A strange thing happened along the way, growing up.  A little girl born in the "boomer age" was different from other children. She was enchanted with all-things "OLD" - typewriters, pocket watches, inner workings of grandfather clocks & pianos, handmade crafts, and especially conversations with old folks.  It was as if she'd been born in the wrong era! She loved losing herself in forests, foraging for plants, mixing herbal potions.  She drew & painted, spun & knitted wool, wrote stories & poems, and read any & everything she could. She especially LOVED Halloween, spoke to animals, and before you know it, others were raising their eyebrows and calling her "odd", "a weirdo" and "a witch"!  All because of the things she loved! 

 

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"Papa, why do they call me 'odd', 'a weirdo', and 'a witch'? What makes me strange?" she asked her father one day. 

 

"Because you're different.  People often feel most comfortable around 'sameness'. So yes, I guess you are a weirdo, but that may be a compliment, my dear.  A witch?  Not sure what that means anymore; your grandmother claims we come from a long line of gypsies. I love you no matter what, and I want you to be yourself no matter what.  So do what pleases you most, become good at it, for it may one day be your life's work.  And just let others be.  They should not matter to you if they are mean or make you feel bad.  In this life, it is not what you SAY that matters, or what you or others call yourself; it's what you DO and how you treat others that defines you."

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"OK, Papa.  I'll keep being myself." the little girl promised. 

 

The little girl grew, and grew, and grew all the way up to 5' 10", and still, she loved all-things-old, and all that enchanted her as a child. Quite by accident, she chose the path of a surgical nurse, working in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, she was most happy helping children with birth defects like missing ears, and cleft palates, etc.  Their happy smiles after surgery were the most magical smiles she'd ever seen!

 

Then one chilly December night, a handsome minstrel crossed her path who intuitively looked her in the eye and recognized her soul, even though she was a weirdo...and she intuitively recognized his!  For as it turned out,  HE was a weirdo, too!  It was kismet!  They fell in true love instantly that night of their meeting, ...later got married, ...made a home, ...and went on to have three little weirdos.  But the girl, ...now a full-fledged weirdo-woman, could not bear being away from her little strangelings, so she gave-up nursing and started a business adventure at home, fortuitously right at the birth of the internet.  Doing what, you may ask?  Making potions, and soaps, drawing and painting art, spinning & knitting fiber goods, writing stories, and all manner of crafty pursuits she'd loved as a child, ...and now the magic of the internet allowed her to offer her wares worldwide, opening up a world of possibilities and connections!

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And that is how Ancient Alchemy came to be! A different sort of odd, weirdo woman, pursuing different sorts of odd weirdo things, simply to be with her children and keep-alive the magic of ancient crafts!  Goes to show, ...sometimes you can grow up and re-become who you already were all along to begin with, doing what you love most...no matter what people say about you  There are even two grand-strangelings now to teach the ways of weird to!

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Yes, to this day, people still call her "odd", "a weirdo" and "a witch" because of what she loves to do, and how she makes her living! And she is just fine with that.  She offers her crafts to bring a bit of magic and inspiration into others' realms! She's been happily and successfully doing this over 29 years now.  Maybe being odd isn't so bad afterall....  Turns out a lot of her customers are odd, too....and we find each other via that magic portal--the internet!

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The End.....(Or perhaps just the beginning!  One never knows what new craft, or adventure, or portal awaits!)

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