I try to read (or at least skim) the print edition of the Washington Post every day (minus the sports section). I’ve been reading ever since I was in elementary school and maybe the way I can tell the passage of time is which sections I gravitate to first. It used to be the comics, of course. Now, it’s the Weekend section!! But maybe you can tell I’m getting to be middle-aged by the way I grab the real estate section on Saturdays….and try to read every piece in the obituary section. They pick the most interesting people, from Frieda Caplan, who convinced Americans to eat kiwis, to Allen Y. Lew, D.C.'s city planner extraordinaire.
I learn so much, not just about history, art, science, and pop culture. But also how to live a meaningful life, and Lord knows there isn’t just one way. How amazing, for instance, is zookeeper Mary Wilson?
First of all, this might be the coolest photo ever, from the beautiful cheetah to Wilson’s mod dress. Paging R/OldSchoolCool.
To get her start in zookeeping, Wilson called the Maryland Zoo twice a week for a year to check on her application. She rose to become the first female African American senior zookeeper. Call me tender-hearted, but I was so moved by how Wilson took care of her furry charges. She even took a baby gorilla named Sylvia home with her for a few days, and their bond was lifelong. When Sylvia the gorilla got sick, Wilson flew to Texas to see her. Her (human) daughter and fellow zookeeper Shannon Wilson Jackson told the Post:
“You could tell Sylvia was weak, but she stumbled over to my mom and just laid her head on the bars so my mom could touch her,” Jackson said. “I cried and cried like a baby. That, right there, was my mom.”
