Trifter

I was born in the Mid-West, raised in California and now live in the Southwest. I have only been to New York City once in my entire life.

For some strange reason I have always felt an affinity for the city that never sleeps and have always felt like I belonged there. It didn’t seem to matter that I had never visited New York City until I spent a short weekend there several years ago. Because my daughter worked for an airline and we were able to fly from her home in Minnesota to New York, I finally got to live out my dream and visit the city that I had pictured in my mind for many, many years.

What I saw in my fantasy was nothing strange or different from the way New York actually looks. The tall buildings, the endless traffic and crowded streets, the known landmarks and many wonderful, colorful places that I had read about and pictured in my imagination most of my life were the same as I knew theat they would be. Actually, I somehow knewwhat I would see and how I would feel once our plane landed at La Guardia and I entered the city for the first time. Nothing was a surprise, I knew that city.

Suddenly I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was mycity and that I belonged there. The traffic and crowded sidewalks didn’t bother me nor did the cabby’s who almost ran me over as I attempted to cross the street in Times Square. We stayed at a hotel near Central Park and walked to Time Square. There was a street fair going on and I bought about ten tee shirts to commemorate my journey. After the long walk to the heart of Times Square we stopped and ate at the Carnegie Deli and I wasn’t disappointed. It was the best meal I’d had in a long time and lived up to all of my expectations. I can still taste that corned beef on rye and nothing I’ve eaten since compares to the way that sandwich was prepared.

Saint Patricks’s Cathedral was amazingly large and kind of scary and I was surprised to see several weddings going on at the same time throughout the long, narrow building. We lit a candle and walked around for awhile trying not to disturb the wedding guests.

Next, I had to have “Breakfast At Tiffanys” so we got a muffin and some Starbucks coffee and my daughter took a picturre of me in front odf the store eating my “Breakfast” (ala Audrey Hepburn). I couldn’t afford anything inside the store but did manage to buy my baby granddaughter a small gift.

After traveling by subway to Greenwich Village and eating dinner in “Little Italy” we took a sightseeing ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and to Ellis Island where my relatives had landed in the early nineteen hundreds. Sadly, I couldn’t locate anyone that I knew or was related too because the name changes had been so messed up that no one knew for sure what any of my grandparents real names were and there no records of the names they had adopted (or been given), by those who processed them upon their arrival in America. I recognized some of the luggage encased in glass exhibits from what my Grandmother had kept from her long journey across the sea and some of the pictures looked a lot like my relatives. Honestly, a lot of the people dressed alike back then and came from the same part of Eastern Europe that my family did so the resemblances weren’t all that unusual.

As we drove around in a double decker tour bus I also saw the Twin Towers. This was August of 2001 so I consider myself very fortunate to have seen them before they were brought down just a few weeks later.  I have a picture of them hanging in my family room that keeps their memory fresh for all time.

The most startling and amazing thing about my trip was that feeling of familiarity that i sensed from the moment I entered the city. Somehow, I knew that I had been there before and that I belonged there. It felt more like home than anyplace else I had lived.

I guess I’ll never really know why I felt this affinity to that wonderful, magical city but it exists even now and I will probably never be able to go there again. I am so grateful that I had the chance to see the city of my dreams that one time and I will never forget it.

I love New York……..