Second Spire to the Right

The text came in somewhere around early morning England time, which was late at night where my family gathered around my grandfather’s deathbed. Just a few days into my third and final term at Oxford, I had spent most of the night laying awake. I think I believed my vigilance could somehow transport me across the Atlantic to my family. Instead, he slipped away, and I went to class. Army veteran, business owner, history expert, football player, virtuosic whistler, devoted husband, and gentle giant with the kindest eyes and best hugs. It didn’t seem real that he would be one day here and gone the next. It especially didn’t seem real traipsing around the City of Spires in a daze as the clouds swirled around at ground level in a gloomy drizzle. 

I needed to be somewhere sacred to break the business-as-usual of it all, so I skipped dinner and walked to Christ Church Cathedral for evensong. I slipped into the cool, cavernous cathedral entrance to the echoing resonance of the organ prelude. Stately pillared arches, vaulted ceilings, and vibrant stained glass are all designed to lift the eyes heavenward. This overwhelming heavenward attention made my earthly grief feel a little lighter for the moment. I found a seat and drifted through the next hour on the wings of an angelic choir and the comforting calm of the liturgy. 

The rain had stopped when I re-emerged from the Cathedral, leaving in its place a golden glow that sparkled off the wet sheen of the buildings. As I neared Lincoln College, a magnificent rainbow stretched across the sky. A childlike delight fell upon the streets as strangers pointed to the beauty on display above us. Rather than return to my room, I followed it through the city, taking in the sight of my favorite haunts and views newly crowned with color.

That’s when I saw him. Across Broadstreet in a group of high school students, a teenage boy wore a shirt that said “Blair Academy.” Blair Academy. Private boarding school in Blairstown New Jersey, Alma Mater of my now late grandfather. My grandfather had worn the emblem of Blair Academy with great pride, from his days as a star football player to the end of his days when he had only stories. Blair Academy. Spotted in Oxford, under a rainbow, against a golden sky. Such a sendoff for one so dear.