In May 2024, our family converged in the mile-high city of Denver for a beautiful spring weekend. Mom, Paul, and Karen flew in from New Jersey; Audrey from California; and Jacob lives and teaches in Denver. I was already there for a business trip. First stop was Colorado College, Jacob’s alma mater, pictured above. Did you know Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, composed America the Beautiful here in 1882?...
To celebrate MLK with Mom, we went to see the Harlem Gospel Choir. Entering the Sony Music Hall was itself an experience–a seemingly endless descending staircase in a decrepit stairwell. The hall itself is a throwback to music halls of years past; actually it is probably pretty unchanged from years past. The choir was full of energy and talent, but more entertaining than soulful. A powerful rendition of Amazing Grace was the highlight....
A night at the opera! Audrey and I took Mom and Paul a double first: their first time at the Kennedy Center and our first time at the opera. The night was warm and beautiful, so we enjoyed people watching outdoors before the show. We also really enjoyed the opera. It was unexpectedly funny, and of course, romantic and tragic. The sets and costumes were not overdone, but still made for a spectacle....
The Roschelle family happily converged at Morningside Heights to celebrate Micah’s commencement from Columbia University. He actually graduated two years ago, in May 2020. But that was the year of coming home for spring break and never returning to New York to finish senior year. So it was great to finally have a full on celebration two years later. My mother, Alice, has a master’s degree from Columbia, making it a multi-generational roar of the Columbia lion....
On a beautiful morning, we decided to visit the National Zoo. Alas the only panda we saw was a statue at the entrance! Mom tried to play with the seals, but they were more interested in the 5 and 6 year old kids running about. My favorite photo is the goat in a bucket! We got to the zoo by Lyft. As you may know, the National Zoo is on a hill....