Berry the Goddess

Immediately, I started to doubt my decision to adopt this pound mutt. Were my parents correct? Was I kidding myself? And what about my friend Mary's reservations? Maybe I was being foolish after all. Maybe rescuing Blondie was a rebound after my dating debacle with the chef. I felt totally confused. There was one person who I knew I could trust to tell if I could handle the responsibility of owning a dog.

Berry Berenson Perkins, daughter of an American diplomat, her mother was born Countess Maria Louisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known as Gogo Schiaparelli, a socialite of Italian, Swiss, French, and Egyptian ancestry. Berry’s material grandmother was the Italian-born fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, her grandfather was Count Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, a Theosophist and psychic medium. The real thing that impressed me about Berry was her capacity for love. I was proud to call Berry my friend.

Berry was a famous photographer and actress who I had met when I was 24-years-old, ten-years her junior. A mutual friend of ours arranged for me babysit her two sons one night. Our friendship blossomed from there. 

I had studied her fashion photography during journalism school at San Diego State University so I was very familiar with the woman who helped Andy Warhol launch Interview Magazine. Her work had been published in Glamour, Vogue and Newsweek. She was also an actress, appearing in several movies including Cat People. The wife of actor Anthony Perkins and sister of model and actress Marissa Berenson, Berry was educated at Swiss boarding schools. Berry filled a void in my life and nurtured me in a way that I yearned for my entire life. Part mother, part sister, part life mentor, Berry welcomed me into her life. And she welcomed Blondie too.With Berry's blessing, I knew I had made the right decision in rescuing Blondie.