At various times in my life I have been on THE PATH. By “THE PATH” I mean my right path – the path I was born to walk. When I’m on the right path it’s a high like no other. Hopefully you know the feeling - the outside world goes dark and falls to the wayside - time stands still and nothing else exists – nothing matters except what you are engaged in at that particular moment. All is right with the world. Many people have walked beside me over the years. She not only walked with me, in one case, in particular she helped me build the way.
She was 49 years, 354 days older then I. Our relationship was at first a competition, or so my insecure mind thought. But over the years a relationship grew – one built on mutual respect and love. At varying times our friendship spurred me on, sometimes it pissed me off, mostly it challenged me and even more importantly it gave me permission to keep moving forward even in the face of fear, insecurities or opposition. Because I knew her - because she cared about me – because she was my friend - she will continue to inspire me even though she is now gone. Blanche (Bammy) Tausig Cowperthwaite lived for 100 years & 10 days and we are all better for her having been here.
Stories of her life abound: her service in the Colorado Legislature, her work to gain equal rights for women, the creation of the Virginia Neal Blue Center (dedicated to preserving native weaving techniques from the San Louis Valley and helping women rise out of poverty), her service on the Board of Directors of Mountain Bell, an illustrious career in real estate, her investment in what was at the time a new ski town - Vail. I will leave those stories for others to tell. The story I want to tell is a personal one – and as is true for most of what Bammy did – it has made Denver a better place to live.
Since kindergarten I’d dreamed of being in the theatre – so when my husband, Tee (her youngest) and I moved to Denver in 1991 we set about finding a building to convert into a live performance space. When we found the right building Bammy stepped forward and offered the last chunk of cash we needed to make the purchase possible. She continued to dip into her pocket for construction money – she went with me to events as I networked spreading the news about Denver’s newest theatre space – she sat, as a member of the audience, through countless performances offering her attentive support – and when at last we found the right theatre company who would make the space their home, she stood along side me (and the other partners in the building) patiently negotiating and nurturing until a plan was in place to make the building the theatre company’s permanent home. Acoma Center is no longer ours – last April Curious Theatre Company bought the building at 1080 Acoma. This fantastic and powerful theatre company owns its home. A huge accomplishment, that will help insure Curious Theatre a long and prosperous producing life! And the city of Denver can proudly point to a nationally known, live performance organization that has always paid the artists who’ve worked there.
This brings me full circle back to my PATH – the one I was born to walk. Mine is the path of ensuring that artists and creatively minded people earn a solid living from their efforts. Bammy’s influence on my life - her generosity of friendship, helped bolster much of the courage I needed to make my dreams reality. Her support and belief in what I was doing gave me permission to combine my love of the arts, my passion for artists earning a living, and my latest love - real estate (something she also held dear) into my most recent endeavor – Thriving Artist Alliance – an organization committed to engage, educate and empower creatively minded people to build wealth through real estate.
She believed in me and that has made all the difference. Bammy I want to thank you for your support, love and guidance – it has been an honor and a privilege to walk with you on this path we call life – may you rest in peace.
Denver was named "America's #1 city on the verge of recovery from the real-estate slump in a segment on NBC's "Today" show.
