Read Online Heaven Is Paved with Oreos by Catherine Gilbert Murdock - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Ads: Link
that day, and about how when her son was lying in bed hurt and sad, she was on the other side of the country watching fireworks. Thatâs not where Iâd want my mom to be if I was hurt.
Would Mary have done that to her son, Jesus? I donât think so. Would St. Helena? (Actually, I have my doubts about St. Helena.)
Thinking about this has put me back to being uncheery. Uncheery and preoccupied.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
We are about to go into the number three church. My feet hurt. I do not like thinking about Z as a mom. What does Curtis see in Emily? Why does he talk about her, and notice her posters? Do you think he thinks sheâs inspiring? That is depressing. Emily would never inspire me. She would not inspire me to do anything.
Here is what I would write Curtis if I was writing him:
Â
Dear Curtis:
Â
Today Iâve seen lots of marble skulls with bad teeth. It is strange that rich people would pay artists to carve bad teeth on purpose. What do you find inspiring?
From, Sarah.
Â
PS: Say hi to your sister. But you donât have to tell her about the skulls.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
We are at lunch. The pizza tastes like it was made last year and the pop isnât even cold, but the restaurant has air conditioning and the menu is in English. We are near the Coliseum right now, which means tourists x tourists (= tourists 2 ). Hungry tourists will eat anything.
I did not like church number three. It looked like a birthday cake full of sculpture and carved shells and decorations . . . The church did have the heads of St. Peter and St. John the Evangelist in silver jars, according to Miss Hesselgrave, but unfortunately I did not see them.
Now we have to go from here to
another
churchâthe last one for today!âthat is so far away we have to take the subway. I know that taking the subway is not what real pilgrims did one thousand years ago when they walked to Rome from hundreds of miles away, climbing across the Alps and sometimes freezing to death. When they finally made it here, they didnât say, âWhew, now we can take the subway.â No, they kept walking. And Miss Hesselgrave and her companion never took the subway, and that is not only because it hadnât been invented yet. Miss Hesselgrave would automatically disapprove of subways, I just know it.
But we are not those kinds of pilgrims. We are the Z kind.
Z is looking forward to this next church. She says itâs the only one (except St. Peterâs, obviously) that she remembers from last time. How could you not remember the other three churches we saw today? But Z says she and her college friends had been to a lot of churches by then and after a while they all look alike. Also theyâd had wine with lunch.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
BEDTIME. I just checked in with Mom, and she said it sounds like weâre having fun. I did not tell her about the heads in jars. I would tell Curtis, though, if he and I were talking. If the two of us ever talk again.
Church number four is called San Paolo Fuori le Mura, which in English = St. Paul Outside the Walls because it is outside the old walls of Rome. It is definitely not a church that a lot of tourists visit. The subway stop isnât even labeled âSan Paolo,â just S.P. BASILICA . If you didnât know what S.P. meant, you would be stuck. It is a not-so-nice neighborhood. People on the street sell socks and pants and cooking equipmentâstuff that isnât bought by tourists. You can also tell itâs not a tourist neighborhood because of all the dogs. Guess what: Italians do like dogs after all! Walking from the subway to the church, I saw eight people with dogs. The people looked Italian, but the dogs just looked like dogs.
Remember St. Helena, the possibly English possible murderer? Her son built a church here to honor St. Paul, because this is where St. Paul is buried. They kept making
Would Mary have done that to her son, Jesus? I donât think so. Would St. Helena? (Actually, I have my doubts about St. Helena.)
Thinking about this has put me back to being uncheery. Uncheery and preoccupied.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
We are about to go into the number three church. My feet hurt. I do not like thinking about Z as a mom. What does Curtis see in Emily? Why does he talk about her, and notice her posters? Do you think he thinks sheâs inspiring? That is depressing. Emily would never inspire me. She would not inspire me to do anything.
Here is what I would write Curtis if I was writing him:
Â
Dear Curtis:
Â
Today Iâve seen lots of marble skulls with bad teeth. It is strange that rich people would pay artists to carve bad teeth on purpose. What do you find inspiring?
From, Sarah.
Â
PS: Say hi to your sister. But you donât have to tell her about the skulls.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
We are at lunch. The pizza tastes like it was made last year and the pop isnât even cold, but the restaurant has air conditioning and the menu is in English. We are near the Coliseum right now, which means tourists x tourists (= tourists 2 ). Hungry tourists will eat anything.
I did not like church number three. It looked like a birthday cake full of sculpture and carved shells and decorations . . . The church did have the heads of St. Peter and St. John the Evangelist in silver jars, according to Miss Hesselgrave, but unfortunately I did not see them.
Now we have to go from here to
another
churchâthe last one for today!âthat is so far away we have to take the subway. I know that taking the subway is not what real pilgrims did one thousand years ago when they walked to Rome from hundreds of miles away, climbing across the Alps and sometimes freezing to death. When they finally made it here, they didnât say, âWhew, now we can take the subway.â No, they kept walking. And Miss Hesselgrave and her companion never took the subway, and that is not only because it hadnât been invented yet. Miss Hesselgrave would automatically disapprove of subways, I just know it.
But we are not those kinds of pilgrims. We are the Z kind.
Z is looking forward to this next church. She says itâs the only one (except St. Peterâs, obviously) that she remembers from last time. How could you not remember the other three churches we saw today? But Z says she and her college friends had been to a lot of churches by then and after a while they all look alike. Also theyâd had wine with lunch.
Â
Â
Saturday, July 13âLATER
BEDTIME. I just checked in with Mom, and she said it sounds like weâre having fun. I did not tell her about the heads in jars. I would tell Curtis, though, if he and I were talking. If the two of us ever talk again.
Church number four is called San Paolo Fuori le Mura, which in English = St. Paul Outside the Walls because it is outside the old walls of Rome. It is definitely not a church that a lot of tourists visit. The subway stop isnât even labeled âSan Paolo,â just S.P. BASILICA . If you didnât know what S.P. meant, you would be stuck. It is a not-so-nice neighborhood. People on the street sell socks and pants and cooking equipmentâstuff that isnât bought by tourists. You can also tell itâs not a tourist neighborhood because of all the dogs. Guess what: Italians do like dogs after all! Walking from the subway to the church, I saw eight people with dogs. The people looked Italian, but the dogs just looked like dogs.
Remember St. Helena, the possibly English possible murderer? Her son built a church here to honor St. Paul, because this is where St. Paul is buried. They kept making
Similar Books
