A Wonder Filled Trip

I returned home from New York City on Monday and am still wondering about it all.  Audrey decided that this was her gift to me for my 70th birthday.  I will be honest that this birthday has hit me hard but after a love filled family birthday party, the gift of a book from Marnie, a movie from Audrey and now this trip - I think I am over it.  I am 70 damn it and going to live my best life.

The trip was more than I ever imagined it would be.  We stayed at an air BnB in Brooklyn which made it feel "immersive."  For four days I found myself wondering what it would be like to live here.  The apartment was "petite" and owned by a woman who is an artist and dancer.  It was very different from the three bedroom home with a family room and big basement and yard that i live in. The small kitchen had enough dishes for two people only and just enough of everything.  There was a living room with a futon that one of us slept on, a coffee table, a little table with chairs where we could play cards, and a barre and a mirror for us to do our plies. (?)  There were large floor to ceiling windows in the front and a tree  that provided privacy.  However, we could definitely hear the business that was happening on the street.  The one bedroom had a double bed and a day bed.  It was small, spare, and artistic.

We took the subway everywhere we went.  Audrey had an app on the phone that provided good directions for us and we made our way and felt very proud of ourselves that we could.  The subway, of course, is so different from walking down a street in middle America.  The riders, for the most part, do not speak:  they sleep, read, spend time on the phone or just engage in what I call the "dead stare."  A couple of times there were mentally ill people present and it was clear that we did not engage. 

We went on several fun and interesting tours - a night tour of the city, a tour of NBS studies, a bus tour of movie and TV sites that included clips of the shows that were mentioned.  We also went to the Brooklyn Botanical gardens and the Statue of Liberty.  The whole time I am looking at the city and all the people - the incredible variety of people - and again wondering what it would be like to have been born and raised here.  Or have chosen - like my nieces to live here.

We had dinner with each of my brothers daughters and their families - Elyssa and Hannah.  It was so wonderful to see them and get a small sense of what their life is like.  I was particularly taken by the news that Evan - which will be in 9th grade next year like Jackson - will be riding the subway by himself to Manhatten to school.  It seems daunting to me - but it really is life in the city.  Meanwhile I watch my two sixteen year old granddaughters taking drivers tests as they go through that rite of passage of getting a drivers' license  that perhaps Evan will not experience.  It is very different.

We also were so happy to get to spend two lunches with my niece Gillian and her new beau Mitch.  We loved watching their relationship and hearing about their lives in Albany New York.

So, we are resolved to go back again next year - we have really only scratched the surface in experiencing this amazing city.  After all is said and done, I was just filled with wonder
 - about the beauty of the gardens in the city and the Art and a petite apartment in Brooklyn
- about the way in which a million people can move through this amazing subway system
 - about the attention to detail that I learned about in the creation of the Statue of Liberty as well as the creation of TV sitcom and movies
 - about the different and interesting and life giving choices that people make in my own family
 - about the friendliness of so many people helping us to find our way

It was a trip worthy of a BIG Birthday and an amazing gift for me.
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