Oh, It's a Long One

I swear. JBB and his nocturnal thirstiness. I was yanked out of slumber by "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy...." in his persistent, but not really panicked voice. I stumbled into his room where he informed me that he needed water. Also, he would prefer it in a sippy cup. The bottle of water already upstairs was just going to have to do. No custom orders in the middle of the night, buddy.

I wish I was one of those go-back-to-sleep-ers. No luck. Mr. Lipstick has a nice snore going on right now which, oddly enough, reminds me of the Muppets. These days, if I wake up in the night, I instantly think of the beautiful, historic building where I attended high school. It will be demolished as scheduled and I am sad about it. The in-town alumni mounted a fierce battle to save it. The time constraints were too tough and I didn't even find out about it all until it was too late. I know I am not alone in that.

I am going to see it one more time on Friday. I can't get it out of my mind. It is driving Mr. Lipstick crazy. He has pointed out that I graduated 16 years ago and I haven't shown any interest in all that time. He doesn't get why I'm so upset about it all.

In all honesty, I don't know either. I mean, I am passionate/obsessed with recycling, reuse, repurposing, preservation, and architecture. That explains part of it. But I feel like I am going to a funeral on Friday. I crave some closure. I want it to be perfect with Mr. Lipstick and the kiddies by my side. Somehow this is a representation of the present meeting the past.

I wish I would have this amazing insight into myself about why I am so upset. Somehow it is disconcerting and unsettling to know that this building that I have scarcely seen since I graduated will now be gone. Maybe it's because I don't like change and not in a I'm-inflexible-at-work-way, but in a once-I-find-something-I-like-why-change way. I go to the same restaurants and order the same thing. If I like a movie, I will watch it over and over and...enjoy it more each time. I could have the same three vacations every year-Disney, NYC, and the beach. I'm sure the Grand Canyon is nice, but I have seen it on the Travel Channel. I'm good for now.

Saturday morning I woke up way too early and I posted the following letter on the Save this Building website:

Dear members of the board,

This is a humble and impassioned plea for a stay of execution for the demolition of our building.

I call it “our building” because that is how we alumni feel. Some of the most important events in our lives transpired within the walls of that beautiful building.

We have learned how to deal with victory and defeat on that basketball court and in those classrooms. Those long-ago events comprise vital parts of our educations, our world-view; they are events that have molded us into the parents and professionals we have become.

The building is not merely the setting of those events, but inextricably intertwined with their memory. Even the simplest detail like the popping of the radiators on a cold February day ignites a powerful emotional response within those of us who love this building.

I remember once leaving school late in the afternoon. For some reason, I was alone as I walked down the hallway from the stairs headed toward the old teacher’s lounge and the cafeteria. Warm afternoon sunlight streamed through those beautiful windows onto the gleaming hardwood floors.

I was busy with all the things that high schoolers are, always planning, never really living in the present and waiting for the next milestone like the acquistion of a driver’s license; but I remember the sight of that hallway just stopped me and I paused to take in its beauty.

Sometimes love is an unwieldly and impractical burden, inconvenient and untimely. This is perhaps one of those times. I respectfully ask the board just to wait. Please don’t be hasty to destroy this beautiful building. We all know there is work to be done. We beg for the chance to save it. We are the people who cooked food for the Halloween Carnivals and the spaghetti suppers, took it to school, and then paid to eat it.

Please don’t seal the building’s fate yet. If any of you have been to NYC to Grand Central Station you know what an architectural marvel it is. Yet in the late sixties it was too slated for demolition…labeled useless and a blight on the city. Thanks to Jackie Kennedy Onassis, it is still there and it is beautiful once again. You can take your children to see it, and you can stand, slack-jawed in the center, shake your head, and wonder how could anyone want to destroy this.

We are certain that if this building were saved, in the coming years people would stand in that long hallway with those tall ceilings, the custom trim, and the hardwoods, and wonder how could anyone want to destroy this.

Please don’t be the governing body whose legacy is the destruction of what is beautiful and historic. It may cost a million dollars to save it, but the building itself is priceless. For those of you have paid for hardwoods (real, not laminate) in your house, or added custom crown moulding, solid core doors, Victorian style register covers, antique brick, double-hung wooden frame windows…you know this building could never be replaced.

Please reconsider. Please postpone. Once the building is gone, it will be too late. Please don’t sacrifice it for what seems like the best thing now. Imagine fifty years from now, even a hundred years from now. You are the custodians of history. Please don’t bury it.

Respectfully,
Lipstick

Photos and self-psycho-analysis forthcoming. And for those dear readers who have made it to this point...many, many thanks for your time.