Nostalgia at the Cathedral

This is one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. I am perched on the arm of a hideous orange fake leather chair while my sister sits in our grandmother's lap as she reads to us in the library of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

I took a trip into the city today with some writer friends - played "hooky", in order for me to give them a special tour of the medieval-styled Cathedral, the mish mash of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, the site rife with multi-religious and ecological symbolism that has meant so much to me over the years. 

I hadn't been there or given a tour in over 6 months, and it will probably be another 6 months before I visit again. As you might expect, I've been feeling nostalgic for my grandmother and wishing she were here. I'm a published author, Gran!

I really wanted to visit the Library, to sit in an orange chair, joke about the color and talk to her, but by the time we got to Diocesan House, it was the lunch hour and there was nary a soul to let us in.

So in place of that, tonight after a long day (including a two hour session with a student helping him submit his fantastic story to the Scholastic Art and Writing Award contest, and spending time with my loves, I looked up the very first blog I did two years ago on my grandmother's official website commemorating her 90th birthday, and here I am. (It would take me over another year to create this site and start to blog regularly.)

I would like to share it, but I warn you, 'tis lengthy!

So these are my thoughts tonight as I get ready for the next few days of whirlwind activity: Caroling with kindergartners, reading with young Writopians at Borders, road tripping to DC to see old friends and make some new ones at the Roundhouse Theater. And I wish my Gran were here to share it all with me. Aaah - here she is - she wants me to promise to take pics and report back!

;-)