April & May 2019

wood about 15 minutes away and ride the
rides on Hunt’s Pier back when it was safe
to let your kids eat cotton candy by themselves.
You liked your peace and quiet in The
Point. You liked your peace and quiet when
you were painting. My fiancé’s daughter is
sleeping in bunk beds in the room that used
to be your dark room. Did you know that?
Did you know that those beds have meant
more to our family than a thousand photos?
Did you mean for that? Did you mean for
any of it?
Norman Rockwell did dishes in this
kitchen. He came in ’62 when the hurricane
ravaged Cape May but the jetties held The
Point. Sort of. Okay, not at all. But I like
the story better that way. He came to take
pictures. He came a few times in our family’s
history. You were friends, he and you.
And he left things with you. He left you
sketches. He left you sketches and that was
your fortune, the sketches and the house at
The Point. When you left this world, you
had two sons, and my grandfather fought
to make sure that this house, that you never
meant to be a beach house, stayed in Eadline
hands. I hope the Rockwell drawings
Opposite page: Author Lauren Eadline’s
great-grandfather Percy Eadline with
legendary illustrator Norman Rockwell on
the beach at Cape May in 1962. Rockwell is
famous for his Saturday Evening Post covers,
one of which was supposed to include a
portrat from Cape May. Percy, a talented
photographer who owned a little cottage
at Cape May Point, was selected to shoot
the photos that would inspire Rockwell’s
drawing. Sadly, the Cape May drawing
never made it to the cover of the Post,
but Percy and the artist kept up a warm
correspondence, as these letters show.
exit zero 81 april-may
are happy, wherever they ended up. I don’t
regret my grandfather’s decision to sell
them for the house: had that not happened,
I wouldn’t be sitting here now. I wouldn’t be
sitting here while an eight-year-old sleeps
in your dark room, still taking in everything
she’s seen today. I remember that feeling.
I know you don’t know what you’ve given
us. I know there’s no way for you to understand
that your little place by Lake Lilly,
with the view of the lighthouse and a bike
ride from the beach, has brought our family
together for five generations. That children
have been here. Husbands and ex-husbands.
Best friends, nieces and nephews.
Babies and grown-ups. Grandparents and
hopeful stepmothers. This house created
traditions. This house created bonds. This
house has made memories, held hearts and
mended grief. This house is our home.
This house has stood through so much.
Through the rescuing of the Victorians in
Cape May in the 1970s. Through the ’62
Nor’easter and Hurricane Sandy. Through
the development of The Point. Through
fights over that leftover half acre. This little
cottage... the one we laugh at for being the