Unless you live here in Louisville, or maybe in the state, you probably had no idea that First Lady Laura Bush was here in town yesterday. She was in Louisville for a fundraiser at the home of Matt Thornton, the CEO of Thornton's, one of the area's largest chain of convenience stores and gas stations. The luncheon was private, with no media coverage. That didn't stop our local news channels, though - they were stationed on the road leading to Matt Thornton's home, hoping to get video footage of the First Lady's motorcade.
Yesterday morning before I went to work, Mom and I were talking about Mrs. Bush's visit. Solemn as a judge, Mom said "You know - I wouldn't have minded going. I've never met a President's wife before." Gotta agree with you on that one, Mom. And out of all of the people that I know, I only know one person who has met a First Lady. And they met the First Lady when she wasn't really a First Lady anymore. But I think that still counts.
The year was 1984, and long-time friend of the family stood in line at the old Hawley Cooke Bookstore for hours just to get Rosalyn Carter to sign a copy of her book "First Lady Of Plains" for me. This was in the days before the autosigner, when Presidents and First Ladies and other very important people actually signed their books instead of having them signed with an autopen or stamped with their signature. She was there in line for half a day, and was able to get two copies of her autobiography signed. After Mom and I finished talking about Laura Bush coming to Louisville, I had to take a minute before leaving for work and go down to the basement to dig that book out of the archives. I dusted it off, and brought it up and placed it in a place of prominence on our new marble-top coffee table. Rosalyn deserves it.
No comments:
Post a Comment