Nihil Obstat

Historic Moments

This morning I flew on jetBlue’s inaugural flight from JFK Airport/NY to Chicago O’Hare. We were treated to a traditional fire hose baptism as we pulled into the gate. A host of dignitaries was on hand to greet us, including a very tall, sculpted blond recognizable from FOX News. I ducked the mike, but probably made it on camera.

Anyway, I had my meeting, and got back on jetBlue to return home to NY. As we were taxiing down the runway, an even more historic moment was underway–the installation of Nancy Pelosi as the first women Speaker of the House.

I have to say I was bursting with pride as I watched her escorted to the Speaker’s chair. I was bursting with pride, because the first woman so honored is a graduate of the same Catholic women’s college I attended, Trinity College in Washington, DC.

Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi graduated in 1962. I entered in 1970. The gap between 1962 and 1970 was enormous; going from your “basic black and pearls, one lump or two”…into Vatican II, the Vietnam War, peace and love, civil rights, women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, Stonewall..But echoes of the same Trinity Nancy experienced were there for me: the civility, the politeness, the nobility of service, the softness of women with steel determination, is recognizable DNA from one generation of Trinity women to another.

Nancy–I wondered as I watched you make your way to the Speaker’s chair–did you ever imagine this moment when you were walking down the Marble Corridor? As you walked along with friends, your laughter and greetings echoing off the polished marble floor in dear old Main–did a vision of this day, even a glimmer, ever appear to you?

I wish you all my best; my prayers and good wishes, that you succeed in your goal to implement with most ethical Congress we have ever had. If anyone can do it, a Trinity girl can. It will be especially hard, since you carry the weight of beginnings, and expectation, as well as politics. Good luck. God take care of you always.