On Line for Caroline

Caroline Kennedy was in town Friday at the Schuler Book Store to sign copies of her new book, a collection of Christmas stories. She was there from 11:00 to 2:00. I really wanted to see her. Hmmm. How could I pull this off? And then it hit. I exchange gifts with the boss's wife. (I used to housesit for them, and we got in the habit.) Last year she gave me Kennedy's collection on Freedom. I would get this for her for Christmas, if the boss would let me go. And of course he did say go! In fact, when I hadn't left by 10:25, he said . . . get out of here.

So I got to the bookstore at about 10:45. Ohmygoodnessgracioussakesalive. The line was out the door. It went to the corner of the store. It went along the east side of the building, to the end, and snaked around the back. What had I got myself into?

What indeed. It turned out to be a wonderful time on line. The mother-daughter behind me were a lively pair. The daughter had been named Jacqueline, after Jackie Kennedy. She was born in 1964. I could relate. My brother Dan, born in 1965, would have been Jacqueline if he had been a girl. We spent a lot of time chatting about the powerful visual images of those awful days in November 1963, and about the strength Jackie conveyed.

We were told that there were already 250 people INSIDE the store. Oh my. I called my boss, but he said, have fun! And as my line companions were so interesting, I stayed the course.

There was a couple ahead of us. The man would bring his wife Starbucks, would go check on the line, things like that. He came back sheepishly after one excursion. He had sat down on a bench outside the front of the store. Security approached him. What are you doing? Um, sitting on the bench, isn't that what they are for, he returned. Security wasn't amused. Apparently there had been threats against Caroline. They asked him what was in his pocket (he had a sweatshirt with a front pocket) and he had to slowly remove his cell phone. Yikes!

The bookstore staff plied the line with cookies and mulled cider from "The Kennedy Cookbook". The question came up: do you think Jackie baked cookies with the kids?

It was 1:20 before we entered the store. The doorwatchers said we were 35-45 minutes away. Would we make it? We had been told she had a fixed 2:00 p.m. quitting time as she had a plane to catch. I hadn't purchased my book yet (you had to get them there) but we were told they were up by where Caroline was signing. The bad news: as they were trying to push the most people through, those of us who had not purhased a book could only get one. Oh well, that's all I really needed. However, the wonderful mom/daughter duo actually offered to GIVE me one of theirs. See what sweeties I had met? And Jackie did invite me to her cookie exchange.

Caroline looks very fragile and frail, though I'm sure she is not. She was very gracious, even though we were among the last to get our books signed.

And coincidentally, "Camelot" had just opened at the Wharton Center in East Lansing.

Okay, this was way too much, but I wanted to mark the moment.

See ya!