Love Letters

Our family have missed your grinning face! Have you grown much? We know you have been fed and well taken care of by the Fantastic folks at CAS. We can’t wait to see you and your turtle pals soon!

Which one of you is the newest groom to be wed?

I entered the Academy of Sciences when I was maybe ten or eleven years old. The giant glass doors at the entrance of the museum seemed like the gateway entrance to some kind of magical new land. Getting the sticker placed on my front jacket made me feel special and important, and entering the Academy was one of the most magical moments of my childhood. From watching the stingrays outside the Planetarium to the bumbling penguins to Claude to the roaming butterflies to the unreal Planetarium films to the amazing living roof, I was taken aback by the incredibleness of the world I live in. It is because of the Academy that I look at the world a little differently. I pay attention to the stars and feel even more important because I know we are made of the same stuff. Fast forward ten years and I still frequent the Academy as much as I can. I have a membership and take everyone I know there to relive and re-experience the same magic I did when I was younger. I even took my dad here as a surprise to thank him for taking me when I was much younger. I'm including a picture of our recent visit taking in the views of the Golden Gate Park from the refreshing and still stunning living roof! Thank you so much to the greeters, the scientists, the tour guides, the experts, the divers, the donators, the animal caretakers, the planetarium guides, the people who guarantee us a safe and clean area, the staff who help us check out and purchase food. I am grateful to everyone who has contributed and who continues to contribute to the magic that is the Academy of Science. Truly. Thank you!

The Academy is the defining spark in my journey to becoming an oceanographer and marine biologist. Every visit has brought me so much joy and amazement. In light of the past year, science has both been appraised and shunned, and the fear and danger of the unknown forced natural science museums all over the world to close. My most recent visit has reminded me of the resilience of both animals and mankind, and I am just so grateful for all that you do and all that you have inspired me to do. I wish you all at the Academy the best, and I look forward to your shark exhibit.

Since that first day we met in 1968 (I was six years old) I raised my eyes to your starry canopy and learned to love night over day. Though I lived hours away, whenever I knew I was coming to Golden Gate Park, I imagined the new wonders you would reveal to me, and fill my heart with inspiration. School field trips, occasional weekend visits with Mom and Dad, and once I learned to drive, my own personal excursions to meet with you once again. I introduced my closest friends to you, one by one. Each time, your embrace filled my world with beauty and wonder. Once composer David Arkenstone came by to add his exquisite music to the experience! Then, not many years ago - you became silent and withdrew into a cocoon of renewal. I mourned you and waited in hopeful anticipation, that you would emerge more glorious than ever. And you did! Through the long months of COVID, I would wander out at night and stare into the sky, thinking of you, and when we would be reunited. The time is coming at last, and we will be together again. I will enter your halls and snuggle deep into a seat to gaze at your magical face, and give thanks that in a world of peril and change you still have the power to seduce and inspire.

Thank you for your dedicated care throughout the pandemic to the museum and the wonders of nature it teaches to everyone who walks through the doors to greet the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex! I'm so excited to come back to the museum again and to stare in awe when the planetarium journeys us across the universe and seas