Romancing the Dome

She came into my room at Baker one night in early spring and said, “Come on, Jon, I want to go roofing”.

“Roofing?”

I had my books open, a ton of work to do, and my thesis just sitting there begging to be written, but she had that fire in her beautiful brown eyes that I was pretty much helpless against, so I grabbed my shoes and she grabbed my hand and we headed out.

Now I was a senior, and she was a freshmen, and yet I had never really been roofing and she evidently had, because she knew where she wanted to go and I had to kick my heels to keep up with her. She was so EXCITED.

Out the front door of Baker, across the Kresge lawn, across Mass Ave just at midnight, and then down the infinite corridor.

“Where are we going?”

“I'll show you”

Turn right down the side corridor of building 4. Now I was really confused. I thought we were headed for the Green building, or perhaps something going on at one of the east campus dorms. What interesting roof access was there from here? Perhaps something opening up on the Great Court?

At this point, perhaps I should explain. I have been gone from MIT for 3 decades and I don't really know the sorts of things that are allowed in these modern times. But back in spring of 1979 there were a few nighttime activities that were practiced by the students and ignored by the campus patrol. One of these things was hacking (for which I refer you to the book IHTFP) and another was roofing. All you had to do to go roofing was to get access to the roof of one of the many campus buildings and climb around. Most were locked. Some not locked so well. The ultimate, of course, was to go roofing on the Great Dome and.... well..... Hack it. Leave a cow up there or something. I was pretty sure we weren't going to be doing that.

She led me down the hall all the way around to building 2; to the section of the building that is on the Northeast side of the Great Court, near the river. Here we went up to the third floor. She was leading all the way, holding my hand and pulling me along. Those great huge eyes of her's alight with mischief. The door to a Boston facing class room was open and we went in. She led me to a window that looked over Memorial Drive and onto the Charles river. Boston was aglow in the moonlight.

“Help me here” she said. She was trying to get the window open. We lifted together and one of the huge 100 year old windows went creaking upward. What was this? We were not near any roof, or any roof access. What were we doing? She stepped out of the window and stood up. I looked out and saw she was standing on a quite substantial ledge. It extended left and right and around the corner into the Great Court. And 3 stories up.

“Come ON”. Her hair was short, brown, and Sassy. Her legs were long and muscular. Her lips were very insisting. I gulped and stepped out on the ledge.

Now I don't want you to think that I am some scardy cat being led on by some seductress. I played on the baker football team and the MIT rugby team. I hiked and canoed and sailed and played guitar and I damn well wooed this woman fair and square. On the other hand, she was due to go under the knife for knee surgery in a week or so and was going to be in a full leg cast for 2 months and she needed to be DOING. And I knew that I had better be following her or never bother to waste her time again. God I love MIT women.

So, we started walking the ledge. It was about 3 feet wide. Plenty of room. And she walked holding my hand and guiding me along. We turned the corner and now had the entire Killian Court displayed out and below us. Lit up by the new Full Moon. Wow.

I still had no idea where we were going. Sure weren't getting up on a roof anytime soon from here. Perhaps we were just going to circumnavigate the court.

To do that, you have to also circumnavigate each of the little side courts that make up the great court. We first went around Lowel court, Up here on the ledge we were above the trees and just looking down at the grass and last patches of winter snow. The air was crisp and cold but the sky was clear enough that a few brave stars shown even through the city backlighting.

On we went, up to the corner of the main building and then turned left toward the Great Dome. We are pretty far up here. Above the columns that hold up the dome. You know the ones. The ones that hold up the inscription that reads: “Massachvusetts Institvte of Technnology”.

We were crossing under the swell of the Great Dome itself and were just about in the middle of the crossing. Right above the second “v” of the inscription when she stops. She turns to me, and she gives me the longest and most heartfelt kiss of my life. Planets collide. Suns die. My heart certainly stops. Then she broke the kiss, put both hands on my chest, and said, in a quiet breathy voice, “There... Now... Whenever you see a picture of the Great Dome, you will remember that kiss. You will remember this night. And you will remember ME.”

And without another word she turned and fled off along the ledge. Leaving me there staring after her. She must have known how much I loved her. She must have known. And she also must have known that she was soon to leave me. I certainly knew.

She was certainly going to leave me......But NOT JUST THEN.

I hurried to catch up. We went to the next corner, where she said, “Give me a boost”. I pushed her up onto this little flat place on the roof above and she helped haul me up after . We were at the base of the lesser dome, the one over lobby 7. She took my hand again and we ascended to the top of the dome, to the 15 foot diameter flat disc on the very top.

“Would you dance with me?” She asked, her eyes suddenly very huge and longing.

Oh...... maybe.

And there, in the night, on the top of the lesser dome of MIT and perhaps on the apex of the very world. I slow danced with my love in the moonlight, surrounded by traffic noises off Mass Ave and the loud beating of my heart.

To this day, I can't look at my brass rat without seeing the engraving on the side of the MIT dome, and remembering that night. And that kiss.

And her.



Author's Note:
This is a note to my future self. So I don't read this in 10 years and confuse myself. Though this story is based on a very true and wonderful event, I am writing it 30 years after the fact and I may have embelished things a bit. However, I am pretty sure the kiss and the dancing happened more or less as explained. BUT....... I don't remember how we got on the roof. Pictures I see of MIT on the net suggest the window thing would not work. And I certainly don't remember getting down.