I arrived Saturday afternoon, flying directly into Ithaca. I got settled in my tidy, comfortable room after David and I ate a late lunch. That evening I treated David and two friends to dinner at Antlers – a wonderful *secret* restaurant mostly frequented by the locals. David’s second-cousin-fourth-removed (I give up on figuring out these relations) lives in Ithaca and took us there a few years back. I was dismayed I neglected to have our server take a photo of us at our table. This is the highest form of parents embarrassing their children. :) So, the pic below was taken by a random passerby in Wegman’s Grocery in the produce section.



The next day, David and I attended Easter services and brunched at one of the on-campus dining rooms. We did a bit of shopping then he went to ‘work’ while I worked on a nap. It was that evening we met with Sarah, as mentioned in Part One.

Monday, David and I met with two more of his friends and lunched at The Statler Hotel. Cornell is renowned for its Hotel School, and The Statler is the teaching hotel. Hence, the service and foods were impeccable. I regret I neglected to get a photo of that event.

During this particular visit to Cornell, I discovered how insanely busy David’s life is. As we strolled campus, he was approached by all sorts of people (including the Dean of Students regarding a Diversity Forum David was involved with) and about other events and meetings and conferences and all kinds of stuff. His cell phone never stopped ringing – or he was placing calls. I was in *awe*

Because of his insane schedule, after our luncheon on Monday, I spent a lot of time with Sarah, and because of that, got an additional crash course on Passover, as I mentioned earlier. As Sarah and I raced down the campus sidewalks (not because of time constraints, but because of the beastly cold temperatures) David celled me. (Hey! Did I just invent a new verb?) His conversation included a lot of “Tell Sarah this and tell Sarah that.” I jovially responded, “Why don’t you tell her yourself?” As I reached to hand Sarah the phone, she politely declined. When I returned to David, he patiently explained, “Mom, I am asking you to relay information to Sarah because she can’t use a phone during Passover. *Me Duh*

Our first stop that afternoon was the Johnson Museum to see if my canvases were installed for the exhibit. It was Monday. Anyone vaguely familiar with museum schedules knows that, historically, museums are closed on Mondays. Again, *Me Duh* Big yawn, anyway. I know what my canvases look like – I was just seeking ego satisfaction. :)

Not skipping a beat, we headed for the Mann Library, hoping to catch a tour. It is a most amazing facility. But we soon discovered we had missed the morning tour and another wasn’t scheduled until later in the week.

Still not discouraged, we headed for the lower, lower belly of the library where rare manuscripts and other precious artifacts are stored. An exceptionally kind librarian took pity on us when we discovered appointments are usually required. But she cheerfully offered to gather some items while we filled out the necessary documents required before viewings. Ahem. I filled out Sarah’s application. Remember? It was Passover – she couldn’t write.

The librarian returned with a small cart, and donned white gloves before showing us the precious items she randomly selected. The first item was an Egyptian stone chiseled with hieroglyphics, translated as being an account of harvested grains. She mentioned that the stone was the most ancient item in Cornell’s collections. The second item was a 14th Century Roman Catholic Prayer Book called “The Book of Hours.” Naturally, the binding wasn’t original, but the beautifully gilt, hand-printed pages were. The third item she showed us was a scrap book from the Civil War – a documentation kept by a Union Family. This item was of special interest to me because I had just finished reading “The Widow of the South”, which is an amazing true story about the Battle of Franklin and a woman who created a private cemetery for about 1,800 who died there (a small portion of the total loss), and gave them a proper burial regardless of which side they fought. I was slack-jawed by all at this point, but nearly dizzy with pleasure when she showed us the fourth and final item – the original first draft of E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.” OMIGOD! It was in his own hand, penciled, and right there on the first page was a drawing of a spider in a web. Amazingly, the opening paragraph of this draft was vastly different than the final draft that went to print. Heh. So, I’m not alone with my zillions of rewrites. I was silly-thrilled to have had the privilege to view this manuscript, because it’s a special book in our family.

Despite the fact that this old lady’s heart was sated and racing with the rush of beautiful activity, we plunged forward to the Cornell bookstore so I could buy a decal for my pick-up truck and a T-shirt. I also bought David and Sarah car decals that read, “Cornell University Alumna.” This made us laugh, but with a hitch of sadness, because their time there is swiftly coming to a close.

Then we dashed to hear guest speaker, Helen Thomas. The auditorium was packed to hear this dynamic and entertaining woman. A large portion of her speech was a rant about the Bush Administration. No one could argue and she received a lot of applause. But the most engaging time at the podium was when she regaled us with vignettes of her years and unprecedented tenure with the Washington Press Corps.

Afterwards, David and I were off for more sightseeing. He is a member of Quill & Dagger, which is a highly regarded organization on campus, but also highly private. Because of my ‘mommy’ status, he was allowed to give me a tour of Quill & Dagger’s exquisite rooms and tower. Our ride to the tower was in a teeny-tiny elevator – the oldest in the State of NY. It creaked and cranked its way to the top. We opted, per my suggestion, to descend via the equally ancient stone steps. :)

Other stops that day included places David has officed during his four years on campus – the kid has been busy! I mean, really, how many students do you know require office space?

That night we gorged, just the two of us, on Thai – one of my favorite food genres.

Then David drove me back to my super room at the Super 8, before he headed for a phone-a-thon he had helped organize to raise funds for some well-deserving organization.

I don’t know when he sleeps.

To be continued…