One day in 1980, Hedy Page put paint to canvas at her spot on a Manhattan street. Her subject was the Plaza Hotel across the street. Hedy had painted many buildings and streets in Manhattan and painted thousands of people into them—because she loves people.

Most of these paintings would later be in museums and private buildings, including the Museum of the City of New York and Fraunces Tavern.

But on that Manhattan day a twenty-four-year-old stranger stopped at Hedy’s spot, found her a good subject, and took this photo. That 1/60 of a second carried for four decades and thousands of miles across the sea.

Years after taking the photo, the photographer Kent Almqvist of Stockholm, Sweden, became curious: who was this woman and where is she today? So he posted the photo on Facebook.

American photographer Ed Weidman spotted the photo, recognized Hedy Page and called friend and filmmaker Ilene Cutler for help. Ilene connected Hedy and the Swedish photographer, Kent Almqvist.

Hence this meeting at Hedy’s Long Beach home—with ABC TV covering.

Cheryl and I were invited to the small gathering of family and friends to celebrate the event.

When Hedy Page speaks it is from the heart, she is as genuine as her fine white hair. She is also a private woman; she said to me, “My privacy is a desperate need.” But I think she agreed to this TV home interview because she thinks it’s important to demonstrate the goodness of people reaching out to others.

Hedy often quotes Eric, her late husband as saying “if you are afraid of a dog, the dog will bite you, if you aren’t afraid he won’t.” She says the same goes for people. I think Hedy wants us not to fear each other, but to get to know each other, love each other. Hedy demonstrates this by adding many thousands of “others” to her paintings.

I’m posting this day with Hedy to help her show the reaching out that resulted in moments of warmths, love, and laughter in her Long Beach home. Moments that were brought about through a photo taken by curious young man many years ago, a man who lives on another side of this tiny blue planet who reached out to an—other.

I saw the cameraman, Tony, at his work with Hedy.

I saw tender moments…

At her house that day, Hedy recalled to me that long-gone day in Manhattan, “I never met him before, he was with his girlfriend who later became his wife.” She said it was a special moment when people come together as if fated to do so. She recalled my meeting her in front of Gregg’s boardwalk shack. She said, “The universe knows who should be together. The friendship was our doing but if we weren’t who we are we wouldn’t have clicked. I get chills just talking about it.”

When Hedy said to me, “If people get to know you they won’t want to hurt you,” I believe her thoughts went back to her childhood, in Nazi-dominated Vienna, when her brother’s friendliness with neighbors saved her dad’s life.

Kent told me he admired Hedy’s work, their shared passions, her smile. He said, “Her smile stayed with me all these years.” Yes, I know of that smile, and those eyes.

In these most troubling times of world affairs, with tensions rising, and bombs falling, it’s heartening to see love for others reach across the decades and the seas. It is this seed, this will, in the grass roots of humankind—love for one another—that I believe will ultimately prevail—one far off day.

I was happy to witness this seed being nourished from a source in Sweden to a tiny home in Long Beach, NY. And it is my sincere pleasure to share these moments—especially the laughter—with you.

Be well,

Leebythesea