More Than a Cute Purse

I get it. 

Kate Spade is known for creating her namesake company which sold cute pocket books in black and white and candy colors.  She’s known for her relationships.  David Spade and Rachel Brosnahan are her brother-in-law and niece, respectively.  She was somebody’s mom and wife.  Yesterday she died by suicide in her Park Avenue apartment.

I get it, because it could be any of us – or maybe it could just be some of us, but yesterday, it was one of us:  a person who seemed to have so much to live for.  She was successful – at least in worldly terms.  In 2017 Fast Company identified her as one of the Most Creative People in Business.  Successful is one thing.  “Most Creative” is especially interesting.

Her name was used interchangeably with her hand bags and when she sold her company, she started using the name Kate Valentine.  I wonder if this was because she wasn’t allowed to use her own name anymore for contractual reasons.  (See Walter Taylor, formerly of Taylor Wines.)  Giving up your name for an inanimate object feels spiritually disturbing.

Kate Spade was gifted in design and business.  That was her particular calling – among other things.

The calling of all human beings involves recognizing that each person is a child of God and each child of God is more than what we make/do/have.  When we are shattered and feel like we want to die, we need a circle of people.  I call that Church.

Kate Spade was more than a cute purse or a Park Avenue apartment.  I hope that – in God’s light – she knows that today.

Image source. It’s okay not to be okay.  You can call 1-800-273-8255 24 hours/day if you don’t feel okay.