When you walk in the room of one of our newest Residents, Margaret Talbert, you can’t help but be captivated by the mesmerizing painting hanging above her recliner chair. It is of an angelic young girl with a blue ribbon in her hair holding an Easter bonnet filled with flowers in a white lace dress. The colors of red, orange, white, and blue accents are so vivid you can’t help but stare deeper and want to know more. This young lady in the painting is Margaret Talbert’s Grandmother, Margaret Isabella Long Stockwell. Margaret has very fond memories of her Grandmother who was a sweet, gentle woman who loved the outdoors, flowers, art, and reading. Both her Mother and Grandmother widowed young. Even though it sounds sad, Margaret says, it was wonderful in a way, three generations of women enjoying the simple pleasures in life together.
Margaret tells me the painting in her room is just a copy. The original oil painting, which was painted by William Browning Cooper in the 1870’s, now hangs in the Filson Historical Society in Louisville. Margaret donated the painting along with original Civil War letters she obtained from her great, great uncles. Both casualties of war at a very young age. The Filson maintains the largest and most significant collection of Civil War manuscripts in Kentucky.
Margaret, like so many of our Residents at The Little Sisters of the Poor, lived through a time that is slipping away into history. We invite you to come have a chat with our Residents to hear their amazing life stories. Join us for reminiscing in the coffee shop or stop by and sit with a Resident on our Patio this spring. They would love to talk with you!
Margaret Talbert and her mother viewing the original painting of her grandmother.
Reminiscing that Started with a Painting