Her last jaunt across the globe was to Morocco where she opted to take photographs by day and by night. As a tourist, she figuratively saw it all and the book that bears her name and chronicles her travels in Morocco includes ancient cities and multiple regions – over the Atlas Mountains, through the southern oases and across the sweeping Sahara to the Atlantic coast.
She even opted to experience the country without being surrounded by the frills of comfort. As a lone American traveling in the Sahara Desert, she had no fear associated to making her bed inside a Bedouin tent. In fact, it was an experience she wanted to make her own.
Tamara knew her days were numbered and that she was running out of time. Whether other members of her family knew of her travel plans to Morocco prior to her trip, I do not know. I know that her mother did not know of the trip until her daughter’s return.
The one thing on her bucket list that Tamara didn’t accomplish was to have an exhibition of her photography. Her family resolved to complete that last request yesterday on what would have been her 49th birthday at Image Art in Austin.
I did not have the privilege of personally knowing Tamara, but I wanted to attend the posthumous birthday celebration and photography exhibition because I’ve come to highly value and love her mother. Anne Boykin, Tamara’s mother was a college friend of my twin brother. Today, she is my friend.
I never met Tamara in person, but she was on my prayer list for many months prior to her death. Anne and I became friends on Facebook two or three years ago. She was a Facebook friend of Karoni, my brother’s daughter. For that matter, I had never met Anne in person until a day or two following her daughter’s death.
I was extended the honor of speaking at Tamara’s memorial service held in College Station by her mother. The program included my name and reference to the fact that I was pastor of Henly Baptist Church. That and $2.25 generally gets you a cup of coffee where I buy mine.
Six degrees of separation is the theory that any person on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries.
Take for example, Fred Worley [the man pictured in the brown sports coat]. Until last night, I had never met Fred before. Fred grew up in College Station. In fact, his sister Evelyn was a childhood friend of Anne’s. I learned that story from Anne last night.
Anne’s family had moved to a new home in College Station. She was age six at the time. Wanting neighborhood friends, her mother mentioned to her that there was a girl about her age that lived a block away. She suggested that Anne ride her bicycle over to the girl’s house and meet her.
Anne says that she used to be shy. Frankly, I have a difficult time believing that is actually the case. If the story is true, Anne has certainly overcompensated with the passing of time. At any rate, when Anne got to the neighbor’s home, she didn’t have the courage to go to the door. She did an about-face, and rode her bicycle back home.
When she returned home, her mother commented that she had not been gone long and asked how the visit went. Anne confessed that she didn’t have the courage to knock on the door. Her mother redirected her and said the girl’s mother was a school teacher. In fact, she was a second-grade teacher. That would be Anne’s grade the following year. With that redirection, Anne retraced her steps. She and Evelyn, the girl in the neighborhood, have been lifelong friends since that time.
Fred Worley, the man in the picture is Evelyn’s older brother. He is the architect that Anne used when she built her home in the Rob Roy neighborhood near the lake in Austin. Anne no longer lives in that home, but I’ve seen pictures. The home and landscaping were second to none. The construction phase of the home took two years to complete. Following the home’s completion, the first people invited to a welcoming party were the construction workers and their families. That speaks volumes about the things that Anne find’s important.
As I mentioned, I was honored with the privilege of speaking at Tamara’s memorial service in College Station. Fred Worley, reportedly saw the program and the reference to Henly Baptist Church. He shared with Anne that he had designed the architectural plans for the fellowship hall for that church.
He didn’t mention to Anne that he had provided the building plans for the church without cost. The building was constructed by Texas Baptist Men, a volunteer group in associated to the Texas Baptist Convention. Last night, I overheard Anne introducing Fred to someone and she referenced that he was the architect for her home in Austin. I subsequently introduced myself to Fred and we had a really nice visit.
Last night’s photography exhibition honoring Tamara was well attended and the 27 pictures selected for display were outstanding. I was very glad that we carved out the time to attend.
All My Best!
Don