DoubleHelix

May 9, 2014: Lynne and I are driving in my car. I am driving the two of us to some kind of gala event thrown by S*****. I carefully back the car into a spot, parking perfectly between the white lines of an underground garage. I help her get a black rolling suitcase out of the car. The plan is for her to go on ahead of me because the event is going to be crowded. I’m not sure what is keeping me from leaving with her at that very instant. After she leaves I am still by the car, hoping she remembers that the event is taking place on the second floor of the vast, Las Vegas style hotel.

I take an escalator and arrive at the ornate white doors of the venue, which are wide open. Inside, the ballroom sized room is well-lit. There is, as expected, a large crowd already inside, and I am obligated to join an informal line of well-dressed people snaking along outside the doors waiting to get inside. People do leave the line to peek inside the doors and then go back to their place in line. Everyone is exceedingly civilized, mature and tolerant of the people who get momentarily out of line to peek inside and satisfy their curiosity about what is inside the room. A solitary woman exits the venue. It is Kathie Lee Gifford. She is holding and nursing a baby as she walks. I wake.