Good friends D. and J. went to a silent auction to raise money for a local public radio station. They bought lunch for 10 with Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, the daughter of Lyndon Baines Johnson, followed by a personal tour of the LBJ Library. Richard and I were fortunate enough to be among the friends invited.
We all met at noon at the entrance to the LBJ Library after winding our way through the construction fencing around the reflecting pools that were leaking into the underground sections of the library.
Luci came in right after us and greeted the library staff as old friends. Luci was dressed simply in black pants, black jacket, and a white jersey top. Her hair was pulled back in a low pony tail. She really does have that distinctive widow’s peak. She carried a purse and a bag that looked as if it might hold a birthday present. She welcomed us, told us we were in for a special treat if we ate lunch quickly, and escorted us to the private dining room at the top of the library.
Lunch was served, chicken breasts in white wine with a dab of white cheese and sundried tomatoes, green beans, asparagus, and a bed of rice, iced tea, rolls and butter. Dessert was apple pear cobbler with vanilla ice cream followed by coffee. While we ate Luci went around the table asking us each to introduce ourselves. She practiced our names.
Then Luci led us through the Library. She stopped at pictures and talked about their background-what that picture meant to her, how it came to be taken, what moment in history it depicted. She’s done this tour many times before. Her words were sure, she really cared about family and the contribution they had made. All the guests were of the same generation as Luci; we had lived during the same events but knew them through different perspectives. And, all of us had been to the LBJ Library before.
She started at the beginning, her grandparents out west of Austin in what is now Johnson City, TX. She moved through their history to the Senate and Presidential years. It was history on the run.
We listened to the story of Luci’s mother and how her nursemaid had named her Lady Bird when she was a lively infant. Lady Bird Johnson is almost the patron saint of Austin. When she died several months ago, the lake at the center of the city was named Lady Bird Lake almost immediately. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a beautiful resource here. We all wanted to hear these stories.
When she spoke of the assassination of Kennedy, we were all moved. Luci had been a student at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. Her parents were away on a trip to Dallas. An announcement said that there was a shooting at the presidential motorcade. No other news was given. As all the girls filed into the auditorium for an assembly, Luci saw a Secret Service agent heading toward her. She ran to him, flung herself at him and sobbed, “No, no!” He kept saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She thought he was saying her parents were wounded or killed. He didn’t know she was worried about her parents.
We all did remember where we were when we heard the news about Kennedy. D. and J., the friends who had bought the luncheon and tour were at a hospital giving birth to their first child when they heard. I was teaching a second grade class.
The tour mentioned Vietnam only as a time of trouble and concern. We moved on through LBJ’s decision not to run for a second term. We finished up at the replica oval office. We looked at the three television sets where LBJ watched the network news, the news ticker tape, the presidential seal in the carpet, the flags given by the military service.
Too soon our afternoon was over. Then Luci opened the gift bag she had carried all afternoon. She gave each of us one of the presidential pens that President Johnson had given as souvenirs. Luci said they were almost the last of a dwindling stock. We shook hands goodbye.
Then Richard and I went to the Library’s gift shop, bought “Future President” tee shirts for our youngest grandchildren, and went home.
