Golden Grammy

Mark Spitz won his 7th gold medal to-day. The country is split in half. The war, civil rights. This young man has brought the nation together as one.

My grandmother wrote that in her journal during the 1972 Olympics. I remember reading those words after she passed away in 1994. And I thought about them again last night as I heard Bob Costas, half asleep (me, not him) say that Michael Phelps had won his 6th gold medal of these Games, and would be going for seven tomorrow.

I might not use the same method -- or even a singular method -- as my grammy, but I follow in her footsteps when it comes to keeping track of the world.

On my calendar, I write who I talked to that day, and if I received any mail (real mail, not electronic). This is something I have done since middle school. Only then, I also kept track of who I walked home with; and then in high school, who I worked with at the grocery store.

In my journal, I keep track of deeply personal things....my "list," potential baby names and letters to my yet-conceived baby, and half-written, barely started letters to J (some dating back to 2001).

And here...well you read what goes on here. Sometimes it's deep, sometimes it's personal, and sometimes it's just boring. But it's my life. And I think in this arena, it's the closest to my real life that I can get.

Not only do I share my grandmother's name. She was Eleanor, I am Ellie (Eleanor was too old-fashioned for 1970, she told my parents). And because I am still single, we share the same last name, something I will be sad to give up if I ever do get married.

But I also share her passion for observing and reporting, for sharing profound thoughts without being pompous. She was never a simple woman, but she enjoyed the simple things. And noticed everything around her.

I hope that by observing the simple things as she did (saw the first robin of spring to-day), noticing the bigger things (our country is again divided over a war and politics), and making the most of the hand I was dealt, I am making her proud.

Michael Phelps goes for his 7th gold medal tonight, to tie Mark Spitz. Tomorrow he could break the record. And for the past week, the country has forgotten about the mud-slinging of the election and remembers what it's like to root for the same thing.