6) He then describes Pennsylvania Avenue now. And how is that personal? As many of you know, I grew up, mostly, in a suburb of DC. That meant frequent trips downtown. Also, as many of you have probably figured out, my disability has curtailed travel. (Oh, I'd probably still travel, but my husband would kill me. Traveling is thus fraught with danger—in many ways.) So I now remember the open DC Obama describes, and—believe it or not—as actual benefit of the advancing MS is that I don't have to see the barricaded DC that now exists.
I know what you mean, Martha. As you know, I also grew up outside of DC. I remember a 6th grade field trip visiting the White House where your biggest concern was catching a glimpse of the Kennedy family passing by. I recall my prom night where my date and I dangled out feet in the Reflexing Pool with Abe Lincoln looking down at us from his memorial above. My husband (then boyfriend) and his visiting grade school buddies from NH would see how many times they could run up and down the stairs of the Washington Monument just for fun. And visits to the National Cathedral always involved fun little side trips into secret rooms and out of the way places. No one ever stopped us or really paid us any mind. Now just to walk into the Smithsonian (or any government bldg for that matter), one has to wait in long lines first to have their bags and cameras checked. Definitely puts a damper on the whole experience.
