Teatime: Meet Cynthia Cummins

This week’s Kindred TeaTime interview is with Cynthia Cummins, founder of Kindred SF Homes and longtime San Francisco agent. Follow this link for more details about Cynthia. 

Name a book you loved as a kid. Is there a line or character you remember? 

That’s hard because there are so many! How about the Madeline books. I can’t recall if Madeline was an orphan or if her parents had just sent her off to boarding school, but I loved loved loved the idea of living in Paris with all those other little girls, in an old vine-covered house, in neat little beds all in a row, with a nun watching over us. And I really wanted to have my appendix gotten out like Madeline did. That shows you how much I knew as a 6-year-old growing up in Grundy, Virginia. Wanting nuns instead of parents and surgery to boot!

What did you last read? Thumbs up or down?

That would be The Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet. I give the first few chapters a thumbs up and the rest of it a thumbs down. Interesting premise but I’ve moved on to the next read.

In your next life you can be a lion, a tiger or a bear. Which do you choose and why?

I have a long fascination with bears, so it’s hard not to be a bear. But I’d choose Tiger because tigers are just so beautiful and lethal and exotic. 

What is something you learned from a parent that turned out to be wise?

To always show up. My dad was always the first person to show up at the funeral home or the hospital bed when things were going badly for people. It didn’t matter if he knew them well. If they were part of the community, he’d show up. He always said there was no good excuse for not making an appearance. It makes a real difference in people’s lives if you make a phone call or visit in person.

There’s a new interior paint color based on you and your life. What’s its name and why?

Today that color would be The Way I Want To Feel Pink. Akin to a soft, comforting rosy glow in one’s heart. 

What in the world gives you hope?

I think hope is possibly overrated and can actually get in the way. Accepting and embracing reality – being present with it – seems to me a better course of action then hoping. 

It’s teatime. What’s your order?

Since this is fantasy teatime I’m going to order a bunch of stuff that in real life I would never eat. Starting with a full-caffeine, full-dairy café latte instead of tea. Also tea sandwiches with plenty of butter and cream cheese on them and scones smeared with Devonshire cream. I might just eat the Devonshire cream directly from a spoon, no scones involved.