A Friend in the Cellar

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Monticello

Phillip and I are walking through the passage into the cellar under Monticello, when a woman coming the other direction stops us. Because she wants to take a photo. Of us. For us.

Wait…what?

“It just looks so cool with the light filtering through the fog behind you…it’s okay…I work here,” she reassured us with that non-sequitur.

Still slightly stunned, we hand her a phone, pose for a photo, and then find ourselves in a conversation about our visit to Virginia and her work at Monticello (which does not typically involve walking around taking strangers’ photos).

Momticello window

“Have a good trip!” she calls after us when we finally part ways.

I randomly respond with “Thanks! May the Force be with you!”

She stops in her tracks. “Have you seen it?”

Of course, she means the then-newly-released Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, that had shocked fans (including us) with the death of a hero.

“Yes!” I was still moving through the stages of fictional character grief, and she just opened her arms to hug me.

The three of us stood in the passageway awhile longer, talking about the movie and the plot twist and feelings and nostalgia, and it was this beautiful moment of connection in a really unexpected location.

monticello passage by liz marshall




P.S. I just posted more about what to see at Monticello and will be posting how to tackle tickets and tour schedules later this week.

Last photo by Liz Marshall.

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

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13 Replies to “A Friend in the Cellar”

  1. That is a cool story. We’re planning on going back this summer, all because of you. (Well, you’re the one who got us to go there in the first place.) We want to get the same guide for the slave tour. He was amazing but we don’t know his name to figure out when he’ll be there.

  2. Those photos are amazing (especially the foggy window middle one, my favorite) and what a cool story of connection on so many levels. Gorgeous!

    1. Thanks, Jess! Phillip told me last night that window reminds him of the windshield on the Millennium Falcon (iconic Star Wars spaceship) and asked it that’s why I included it. (It wasn’t.)

  3. What an awesomely random and cool story and connection to make. My mom and I went to Monticello, as part of our trip during spring break, my 8th grade year in school (1989). And being really into Hamilton (the musical) right now, I would appreciate the chance to return.

    1. I hope you can! They’re actually doing Hamilton tours right now, where they discuss his ideas of democracy with Jefferson’s.

      It’d be a great year to go! Also, I know a lot of the exhibits are newer. I bet a lot has changed there since 1989!

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