Famous folk, past and present

Well, just past.

A good number of you already know that we have been meeting contemporary famous people; or at least, distinguished people; or at the very least, rich people...in far greater quantity in recent weeks than in our previous lives.

Which may be why Alice has begun to assume anything is possible.

I said something this morning about "how we teach Christopher Columbus now." Alice rolled over. "Christopher Columbus! Wow, you know that guy?" Turns out she'd been learning about him, his ships, and his confusion about India in class. They'd just failed to mention he was a student at my school, I guess.

Earlier in the week Alice and I headed out to the soccer field one evening when we arrived home to check the score of the varsity game. (We've taken a new interest in school soccer since Tom started coaching one of the middle school teams, and since the games are played on our front lawn.)

"Oh," I said, "the other team won, 6-2."

"What's the other team's name?" Alice asked.

"Notre Dame."

"What's Notre Dame?"

"It means 'Our Lady.'"

"Who is 'Our Lady'?"

"That means Mary, the mother of Jesus."

"Oh. I didn't know she had a soccer team."

"No. The school is named for Mary, the mother of Jesus. But she died a long time ago, and she never had a soccer team. The school is just honoring her with its name."

"Oh. Well, I bet Jesus is happy that his mom's team won."