A Few Good Pens: If I Could See Dead People...

I got to thinking the other night about who really deserves to be on my list of dead people I wish I could have met. Originally, I had T. S. Eliot as my leading dead man with Edith Wharton right behind him, but then I remembered John the Apostle and his exile to the Greek island of Patmos and realized he is definitely more important to me than my wannbe husband, T. S. Eliot. So after a long walk in the wind with my dog tonight, here is the list as I now see it:

1. John the Apostle (oh the questions I'd want to ask him...)

2. T. S. Eliot (I'd be very giddy, perhaps near hyperventilation, just to be in the same room with him)

3. Edith Wharton (we'd totally hit it off, I'm sure)

4. King Solomon (by far one of the best poets in all of recorded history, I'd want to hear him in his Hebrew native tongue read the entire Song of Solomon to me)

5. William Shakespeare (I would have to impress him with my recitation of Beatrice's lines from Much Ado About Nothing--after teaching it every year for 15 years, I've got nearly the entire play memorized..."What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much? Contempt, farewell. And maiden pride, adieu. No glory lives behind the back of such. And Benedick, love on. I will requite thee, taming my wild heart into thy loving hand...yadda yadda)

6. Rich Mullins (he'd have to sing "These Days" for me then I'd have him teach me how to play the hammer dulcimer)

7. My maternal grandmother (vovo) Mary Avilla (I'd hug her and give her a neck rub--she gave birth to 14 children!)

8. My paternal grandmother Beda Johanson (she's from Lapland, part of the Sami tribe, so I'd have a lot to learn from her--she gave birth to 9 children and died when my dad was 5)