Calendula (LeFosse) was born in 1917 to Italian immigrants in New York City. In 1930 she met Simcha at the Bronx Boys Club swimming pool and they fell immediately in love. Simcha used to say, “I was up on the high board about to do a cannon ball and there she was looking up at me with those big brown eyes. They married in 1937, raised two children,  and were inseparable until his untimely death.

 

To recover from her sadness, Calendula moved first to Arkansas and built a geodesic dome in the middle of the woods. For the next 10 years she carried water, chopped wood, and quietly lived with the animals. These solitary years created a wanderlust in Calendula. And so travel she did ! Visiting Tibet, India, Afghanistan, Africa, Japan, China, the U.S.S.R., Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, France, until she finally settled in Amsterdam. During her journey Calendula learned many wonderful techniques for body transformation through breathing , exercise, color, incense, music, water, essential oils, and massage. Over time this knowledge was passed on to her daughter who came to join her from America.

 

Eventually the urge to travel struck Calendula again. Her exact whereabouts remain a mystery. Then in 1997 Calendula’s daughter opened the family home to discriminating guests and now offers weary travelers the family’s tradition of ‘comfort for the heart and spirit’.

 

Calendula Officinalis is an herb of ancient medical repute, said to ‘comfort the heart and spirits’.