Pilgrimage

After we left St. Mary's, we stopped in Savannah for the morning. We went on a tour bus and saw colonial homes, Spanish moss, and River Street.
Departing Savannah we went a bit out of our way and stopped by the small town of Milledgeville. When I was in a freshman American Literature class at Ricks College the teacher introduced me to Flannery O'Connor. I fell in love with her writing and have read almost every book, short story, or published letter she has written. She is so funny and concise, and her subject matter is fascinating: Salvation through Violence, mostly in the Southern Gothic environment.

We went to her house, which has been a dream of mine for years. After returning from the Iowa Writers College and a writers commune in New York, she moved back to Milledgeville. She produced the majority of her work at this home. The front room was converted into a study and bedroom because she had difficulty going upstairs. It was very moving. Her crutches were placed upright on the side of her bed. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed inside the house.

Cheyn was so sweet to me. She let me buy a tee-shirt, and a bumper sticker that say "Nobody with a good car need to be justified." This is a line from Wise Blood, and is hilarious to me, though I think you need to read the book. She passed away in her late thirties from Lupus.