Winter in Manhattan Odyssey: Introduction

             "Cherish all your happy moments; they make a fine cushion for old age." 
                                Booth Livingston (American novelist and dramatist)

United Nations from Keiko S

from Keiko S

             My love affair with Manhattan began when I was thirteen years old.  It was the summer I graduated from my parochial grammar school of eight years.  A beloved Uncle invited me to accompany my Grandmother to a visit with his family in southern Connecticut.  On the Sunday afternoon, he and my Aunt piled all five of their children, along with me and my Grandmother, into their station wagon, and off we went into the big city of New York.  We went to the UN and walked around (this was still in the times of innocence, no terrorist threats in the early seventies, at least not on American soil.).  Then he found the Hospital where my Great Aunt, a Franciscan Nun, on my Mom’s side lived and worked.  Sister Philomena brought us to the hospital roof, the sky-line spread around me like a comforting blanket and I was hooked.

OBC Photo

Sardi's from Gourmet G

from Wikipedia

The next time I was in New York was the winter after I graduated from Hygiene School.  “The South Shore Carpool” (the moniker we were given in school) did a weekend bus trip to the Big Apple.  The focus of that trip was to see Andrea McArdle in “Annie”.  I was sick as a dog with a brutal cold, shouldn’t have done anything of the sort, but being twenty, of course I went!  I remember the bus, the show, dinner at a New York institution, Sardi’s (on W 44th between 8th and 9th) after the show.  This was the seventies, most of the Group tried to get into Studio 54 after Sardi’s.  I couldn’t, I had had enough, and needed my bed.   I remember walking home with one of the Other Girls, and not being one bit afraid (thinking I was supposed to be, as Everybody had warned me about the Big Bad City). I remember getting up Sunday morning before leaving and going to Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Loved it.

 During my month long honeymoon with my Officer and not so Gentleman, after Hawaii for almost two weeks, we came back East to my Family. We also spent a few days in New York City with one of my new Sisters in Law who was living in Manhattan.  The dinner we had at one of the big famous Italian restaurants of the seventies, Mama Leone's, was the biggest meal I had ever eaten, and truly filled me for two days.  We were there on a Monday night, so most Broadway shows were dark, but Liza Minelli’s ex, Peter Allen (the Boy from Oz), had a one man show, "Up in One" running. We went, I loved it and Him, and It was many years later before I realized his impact on the theatre-art world, for so many reasons.  On the train back to Boston, I explained to my new Husband that I had to live in New York City someday. He looked at me and said I was crazy.

Fast forward a few years, I was now single raising my Daughters and working full-time.  When the Girls were about 5 and 7, I decided to take them to New York City in December to experience the magic of the Christmas Season there.  My Mom joined us.  I remember my Babies eyes huge and in awe as we paraded around with them in their matching Rothschild coats.  They were falling in love with Manhattan as well.  That weekend we saw the Rockettes at Radio City Hall.  To this day, that show remains one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We had burgers at the Hard Rock, and the Girls were delirious with the Michael Jackson paraphernalia. We splurged on a horse drawn carriage ride and my Mom was thrilled when we found out our driver was from the same little town in Ireland as my Grandparents!

From that day forward, my Girls had their sites, and hearts, set on college in New York City.  We did the college tours there.  My younger Daughter’s senior year started during the fall of 2001, the year that all of our lives changed forever.  It was heart-breaking and thrilling at the same to be exploring New York City then.  We all learned very difficult life lessons then.  The true Middle class seems to have been left on its own when it comes to educating our Children.  Neither of the Girls attended college in New York City.  They chose colleges (McGill University and University of Massachusetts at Amherst) that I could afford (by working six days a week) as neither wanted to graduate with any debt.  There are no regrets now.