Becoming a responsible adult seems like a great thing when you are younger, but as you mature, you want nothing more than to be a kid again and enjoy the things that are no longer appropriate to a grown-up. It can be hard to navigate through the silent but always implied age restrictions society puts on things. Age is just a number, and it doesn’t define any of us. No matter how old you get, no matter how old society says you are, no matter if you’re nearing the senior bracket—you’re only as old as you feel. Because nobody can tell you you’re too old for something, and Edith Vosefski agrees. Today, let’s take a closer look at her life and how she agrees to the statement through her memoir.
The Nine Lives of Curious Edith
It never occurred to Edith Vosefski to put into writing her life. She’s past her prime and too tired to commit to writing a memoir. “I have a lot of my friends keep saying to me, ‘You are so different. Your life is so beautiful and so unusual. You should write a book.” Edith professed to Kate Delaney in the program America Tonight.
As a lifelong educator and therapist, she has a longing for the public to have a glimpse into the importance of teachers and life itself. So, at the age of 90, Edith finally caved in the peer pressure of her friends and acquaintances: she wrote a book about her life.
Looking at the cover of the recently released The Nine Lives of Curious Edith, one would expect about a British dame or a Historical Movie star from Downtown Abbey. However, when you wade through the 300-plus pages, you’ll get a preview of a remarkable woman who knows the benefit of continuous learning and reinvention.
The Nine Lives of Curious Edith walks you through the life and works of this individual, from major milestones to significant challenges in her lifetime. Like the cover, the entirety of the narrative radiates the author’s unique personality compounded with her natural wisdom, wit, and inquisitiveness. What’s clear in her book is there’s always time to learn something new, upskill, revisit past learnings, or even reinvent oneself.
And while completing her latest publishing effort, the author was managing the side effects of stroke and had to type the manuscript with one finger. Edith recalled her check-up with a doctor, whose remarks somewhat inspired the final title of this memoir. According to her, the doctor quote and quote, “You know, Edith? You’re just like a cat. The truth is that a cat doesn’t have more than nine lives, should somebody ask me. No matter what’s happened to you or what we do as doctors to you, we can’t kill you. You always survive.”
“An old dog can learn new tricks if she is determined,” she remarks. “Don’t ever believe that an old person can’t learn new tricks. She can, if she is really determined and still has her mind.” Thus, it’s safe to say Edith Vosefski is the living proof that you are never too old—or too young—for anything.
Moreover, this is not Edith’s first publication; she also wrote and illustrated two children’s books titled Leo’s Out of This World Adventure and Leo and the Spirit of the Golden Boy.
About the Author
Edith Vosekfski is a lifelong educator, therapist, and now an artist-author. She is a lifetime resident of Downers Grove, Illinois. And a 1952 alumna of Northwestern University’s College of Communication Science. She is the widow of Joseph Francis, who recently passed away after sixty-four years of marriage. A mother of two adult sons. A traveler who visited twenty-seven countries in just twenty-five years. Her life is extraordinary in its ordinariness. Young at heart and an active learner throughout. She is the epitome of an eternal optimist who never fails to give the best advice during these trying times.