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She stands tall and straight, beautiful in a world that
has passed her by, elegant in a place that knows only glitz. She remains
as a reminder of a different time and a different place. Her very presence
demands respect and calls for dignity. She is the Empress of Little Rock.
No, she is not a lady, not in the human sense. But she
is a lady no less. She is an old, restored, magnificent Victorian Mansion
in the heart of downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. Now retired to a Bed and
Breakfast, she welcomes all who enter with grace and warmth, and a view
of life as it once was.
Outside she is towers and spires, turrets and gingerbread,
slate and stone made to last the ages, and she has done that well. Inside,
she is antiques and treasures of a time when things were simpler and life
more easily understood. She carries that tradition well also, my friend.
You and I also stand on a corner separate and alone. We
are called "holy" which means 'set apart' for a purpose. Our
presence should bring attention to a different life than the commonplace
world of sin and sadness. Does it?
Like the Empress, my prayer is that when you and I pass
along and the world moves past us, that it will always be able to look
over at the corner where we stood and see a picture, a monument of what
was, and what can still be today. A monument to our architect, a place
of rest and welcome, an inn along the way that will say "Come in
and rest, my yoke is light and my burden is not heavy."
I may never make it back to that mansion on 22nd St. but
I have a mansion of my own being built even now, in a place called glory.
I hope you are the first visitor when you come to town. I'll watch from
the tower for you.
-Mary Griffin
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