[Magdalen] Fwd: How does a building ask for help?

[Esther Williamson]

What a wonderful memory. Thanks for sharing.

Esther

On 4/16/2016 4:40 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford wrote:
> I can remember when I was barely as tall as a normal table, going to visit
> my Aunt Kate (really my great aunt). She was a person who had been places
> and seen things, and her house was filled with all sorts of wonderful
> things. I guess she was the one who instilled in me my perennial sense of
> wonder. Among the things strewn around were copies of "Cathedral Age," the
> magazine put out by the National Cathedral. I was somehow aware that this
> was a church in progress, and that it was nowhere near completion, and that
> my Aunt Kate placed great importance in its welfare.  She always made
> modest contributions, for which she received a card from someone on the
> staff, giving a little tidbit of what was then happening.
> Many years later, while in college, I went by bus to hear a performance of
> Mahler's Symphony #8 ("symphony of a thousand") in the still far from
> complete cathedral.
> When I was in Washington, several years later, I was able to view the top
> of the last tower which would be later put in place to celebrate the actual
> completion of the Cathedral. (I was able to touch it.  I wasn't supposed
> to, but I suspect they knew some of the tourists would reach past the
> velvet ropes to touch history. I visited my Aunt Kate a short time later
> and told her of my latest encounter at the Cathedral. I always made it a
> point to tell her whenever I had a chance to visit it over the years, and
> she was always fascinated. That day, however, was, I am sure, a very
> special one, because she knew from an eye witness that her cathedral -- our
> cathedral -- was finally completed.  It was only a few years later that an
> attendant came into her room and found her with a "Discover" Magazine open
> in her lap, having departed for yet one more incredible journey. Fair seas
> and following winds, Aunt Kate!
> I give to our cathedral when I can, and think of my aunt, my inspiration.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>