ROBIEWANKENOBIE

the first time i met her was in the heyday of her husband's general hospital career. i asked him for his autograph, because he had a famous wife, and he was tickled to pieces. she was a featured speaker at chautauqua institution, and was spellbinding. after she spoke, i hung around like a groupie waiting to meet her. i think i was twelve?

the second time was at a berea college convocation when i was about fourteen. i brought my well worn paperbacks. she said that she loved seeing that her books had been read so many times. when she signed my books? she misspelled my name. i said that it was okay, but she insisted that it was very important...that i should go home and white out the mistake. we had friends that were visiting, and we took them for dinner at boone tavern. she had come to eat, and although the parents told us to give her some privacy, i couldn't help but sneak looks in her direction. i couldn't help myself.

without her? the teen years would have been so much lonelier. without her? i certainly wouldn't have escaped the hard truths of those years with my faith in tact.

i called my mother when i heard that she had died, because i knew that she would understand. she shared those moments with me. she knew how the books had moved me. even though she dropped off the public radar years ago, it was nice knowing that her soul was out there in the world. we'll miss her.

goodbye madeleine l'engle..