It's way past my bedtime and I am wired. It could be the Tab energy drink, or the fact that I just met my favorite author. Rose and I went up to a Unitarian church in Portland to see her speak, not knowing at all what to expect. She's not the preachy type, but still, it was, after all, in a church and she would be reading from her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith ... but we were game for whatever. We stopped for dinner at Rose's Deli in Sherwood (YUM) where I mentioned that I wished there was a way to get another server without hurting anyone's feelings. I'm sure ours was a very nice person, I just wasn't into her. Just before our food arrives a much peppier server comes to our table to let us know that our server is coming off a long day, and he's going to take over our table now. I got my wish!
We pull into the parking lot, scoring a perfect spot near the church. We're in line to pay for a parking ticket when a man hands me a free parking ticket because he accidentally got two. Sweet.
As we head into the packed church, I say I wish we could get singled out by Anne Lamott somehow. Maybe even go out for a slice of lemon meringue afterwards. We're told there is no more seating but then Anne Lamott graciously allowed people to sit behind her in the choir section. As she begins her talk, she asks for the "choir" to stand up and sing "My Country Tis of Thee." Seriously. Since all these wishes are coming true, we bought some lottery tickets on the way home. I'll keep you posted. No lemon meringue pie though, maybe next time.
She was awesome - inspiring, gracious, funny, beautiful and REAL. I still have to process what she said and what it brought up for me, but the experience of being there was one I'll never forget. When it came time to get our books autographed, I was all nervous about it. My palms were sweating and as we're standing single-file in the church aisle I had a flashback to getting my First Communion and felt like I was going to somehow mess this up and I didn't know how I was supposed to do this. I was so excited I felt like I could vomit. Then, I remembered that it wasn't a Catholic church and so I didn't have to feel guilty about it but I still felt like puking. So, when it was my turn to have my book signed I said:
"How are you?" and smiled. She was lovely and it was just so cool to make eye contact with her and have her signing my copy of Bird by Bird. She said "Better now." We shared a smile, she signed my book, I stood there stupidly wishing I could think of something really brilliant and original to say, but nothing came. So I left her with the oh-so-original "I so enjoyed listening to you and reading your books." To which she graciously replied, "thank you for coming." Maybe someday I'll write her a letter about why I adore her so much and how reading Operating Instructions was the first time I had a moment where I thought maybe I could actually be a mom someday. Maybe I'll even mention how I was so dumbstruck when I met her all I could think about was trying not to vomit. Maybe we'll even laugh about it when we're on Oprah together.
