Proof That I'm Getting Older

     Page Fifty.
     A couple of days ago, I was in the Cleveland Museum of Art, drinking some coffee and enjoying the new additions. Our museum is almost finished with their $350,000,000 addition, after ten long years, and it's beautiful. (That's right... $350,000,000, literally, just for an addition. Kind of amazing, huh?) The Cleveland art museum has had a great reputation for decades. Well now it's even better. The new inner courtyard is one of the largest public spaces in the state of Ohio. And now there's room in the galleries for all the Van Goghs.
     (Can you imagine not having enough wall space for all your Van Gogh paintings? While I was working toward my degree in Art History, fifteen years ago, I ended up in the basement of the museum because I was studying some items not out on display. I noticed two Van Goghs hanging on pegboards in a dimly lit room. My jaw dropped when they explained, "we don't have wall space for everything".) 
     So anyhow, I'm sitting there and who walks over but my former next door neighbor when I lived with the Van Myms. I lived with them from spring '82, until summer '83 and nannied their two little girls. She informed me that the older one, who was six when I moved in, is now married and living on the East coast. The younger girl, who was three upon my entrance, is living with her boyfriend in Chicago. How old do I now feel?
     It just isn't fair! Though I would never want to be twenty again, it seems unethical of God that I would ever have nannied someone who'd now be married. Of course, this feeling is nothing new. Of the three Shapiro boys, two are married. I lived with them from summer '83 'till summer '84, and then, again, from summer '86 'till summer '93. When I moved in with them in '83 the older one was eleven and the twins were eight. Both twins are now married with children of their own. The births of their kids over the last four years have REALLY done a job on my self-esteem. I simply can't be that old. Can I? Thankfully, those boys all turned out well and both Shapiro parents have pulled me aside at different times and given me much credit for how their kids developed. That helps ease the aging process.
     But, back to the museum... The covered inner courtyard is one acre in size. It's essentially the size of a football field. Then, there are two floors of galleries that surround the courtyard on all four sides. So basically, it's a museum the size of a sports stadium with art where the seats should be. It's that big, but with architecture more beautiful than any stadium. And most stadiums aren't filled with art by: Turner, Caravaggio, Warhol, Monet, Picasso, Rodin, O'Keefe, Faberge, Renoir, Durer, Rembrandt and yes, Van Gogh. If you ever find yourself in Cleveland, Ohio stop by the art museum. Closed on Mondays, always free entrance.