Mom’s Day - 2012

To my Mom, Lucy and to my birth Mom, Connie - Thank You.

Legacy Of An Adopted Child

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other.
... One you do not remember
The other you call mother.

Two different lives.
Shaped to make yours one.
One became your guiding star
The other became your sun.

The first gave you life,
The second taught you to live in it.
The first gave you a need for love
And the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality
The other gave you a name.
One gave you the seed of talent
The other gave you an aim.

One gave you emotions
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first smile
The other dried your tears.

One gave you up,
It was all that she could do.
The other prayed for a child
And was led straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears,
The age-old question through the years:
Heredity or environment-which are
you the product of?
Neither, my daughter, neither-
Just two different kinds of love.

Mom and Me, 1964

  Connie, birth mom, 1961

Until we meet again …

Monday, April 2nd – Our last day. After freezing our tuchus’ off on Saturday and a bit-warmer Sunday, New York on Monday, dawned with sunny skies to bid us off it’s shores. We were sad to go, but a bit ready to sleep in our own beds and stop walking at a horse-race speed for a time. This day was for packing, checking out and a quick (and I do mean quick) trip to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

A story to share: Many years ago, we were stationed at Langley AFB in Virginia. It’s a short trip to New York, so Mom and Dad hauled our 31 foot trailer hooked to our yellow station wagon and drove the few hours to New York, Jamestown and then up to Palmyra to see (what was called at that time) the Mormon Miracle Pageant and the historical Mormon sites, such as Carthage Jail.

I can still remember Daddy driving patiently and without reserve through the busy streets of downtown New York, hauling that massive trailer behind us. We had to have looked every bit like the Beverly Hillbillies to those locals. We had every – I mean EVERY – taxi honking at us for blocking streets and taking our time as we gazed at all the wonders of New York. I’m amazed we made it out of there without a bullet in the side of the station wagon. Daddy was never unnerved by all the yelling though. He just drove.

We either didn’t have the money or the time (I don’t know which) to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, so we peered at it from the mainland. However, due to the fact at that time, my parents had no idea I had the vision of a bat, I could never see the Statue. Everyone else in the car was oooing and aahing over this wonderful woman and me …. well I kept saying, “I can’t see it! Where is it?” They, being the understanding-type of family said, “Oh you can too see it! You’re just being difficult” or something to that effect. Truth is, I really never could see the statue. With vision at 20/800, it’s hard to see most things, let alone a statue that’s on a tiny island in the sound. So I never saw her.

Fast forward 40 years – Finally. She and I have a chance to meet. I wish I could tell Mom about this; she would laugh. I did call Daddy while I was on the ferry and told him that I finally got to see the Statue. He laughed for the both of them.

Good Morning New York! 1) My view from my window, looking down on Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. 2) Sunny skies for our goodbye day. 3) The brown water-looking towers are just that: water towers. Due to the way the city sits, builders found that there was never enough water pressure for the tall skyscrapers. So they started putting water towers on ALL the high buildings. They’re on every building. They also found that wood makes the water taste the best, so metal is never used and to hide the “look” of the wood water tower, many buildings have clever designs covering them.

1) Yeah. Felix HAD to have her pic taken in front of Johnny Depp’s wax picture. I could understand if it was … say … Neil Diamond. But oh well. Kids these days. 2) This is/was a sculpture that sat in front of one of the World Trade Centers. When excavating had started, the workers found this with the top crushed in from a beam but really no other damage. It sits in a park on the way to the ferries. 3) This is the entrance to the ferry dock to go to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Yep. And there she is. This picture is so good, I’m making a poster out of it.

This is the tiniest island. Zoom in and one can see the line of people waiting to visit. No way are we doing that. On to Ellis. 2) Me (looking a tad like a bobble-head) in front of the Statue. Hi Mom! Coming up to Ellis Island. This was actually more amazing than the Statue as far as impact. She was beautiful, make no mistake. But this place … to walk on the same floor as 22 million immigrants did … step up the same stairs … touch the walls. It was heart wrenching. New York City Skyline.

Five days in New York and back home we go. Goodbye Big Apple. I’ve got one more kid who wants to go. See you again in a couple of years.

New York, Day Four

April Fool’s Day!! Sunday proved to be a better day, weather wise. We were still hiking all over New York, following this machine of a tour guide, Zora. My hips felt like they were coming undone from their sockets. Today was Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center and a minute to myself for lunch.

We also saw another show this day, Spiderman: Turning off the Dark (or something like that). Honestly, it was a good light show, a great rock band show, but as far as a musical show … not so much. No plot and I felt nothing for the characters. However, I still dozed in this one and for good reason. The songs put me right to sleep. It was fun to see Spiderman flying through the air though.

         

Pictures 1-10:

1. Third acting workshop: Dance. They learned the Sha-poopy dance from “The Music Man.” And yeah, we adults sat and watched, drinking our water. No Sha-poopy for me. I might pee my pants.
2. St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Stunning.
3. St. Thomas’ Cathedral. Stunning … again.
4. In front of the Rockefeller Center. Yeah, we could really use Wisdom and Knowledge right now.
5. Ice Skaters!! In April! I pictured myself twirling around, doing double axles, and a layback spin …. and then realized that I don’t know how to ice skate and would probably pee my pants anyway. *sigh*  I guess I’ll just watch.
6. Tour of Radio City Music Hall. I can say that I would have preferred to see Grand Central Station instead, but it is what it is.
7. My Ticket.
8. Meatloaf’s SIGNED guitar!! Okay. That was so worth it. Yep yep yep.
9. Can you guess which person in the picture is made of wax? One might say the figure in the middle … who in reality is actually a famous Rockette dancer. So there is no wax figure in the picture but she really LOOKS like she’s made of wax. Trick question.
10. An un-authorized picture of the Spiderman set. Heh heh heh. I’m such a rebel.

Our last day is tomorrow. That went SOOOOO fast!

New York, Day Three

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Well, if yesterday was wonderful walking through Strawberry Fields with the sun shining down on us, then payback really sucks. Saturday was horrible, weather-wise. We had checked the weather up until the day before we left and saw a nice, no-rain forecast. Since we could only take carry-on, packing a huge coat was rather difficult. But with the forecast, we felt that our jackets and hoodies would be fine. Never trust Mother Nature. It was windy, cold, rainy, blustery, overcast … you get the picture. I finally bought some gloves for Felix and I due to extreme numbness in our hands but I ended up loaning mine to another kid who was equally cold.

Today was Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, 9/11 Memorial, and standing for 45 minutes in the freezing cold to buy half-price tickets for an evening show. One show in the afternoon (War Horse, which was gut-wrenching from beginning to end) and then a show in the evening (Chicago, and our seats were on the front row and I could literally see up the dancers’ noses).

      

Pictures 1-12 (left to right, top to bottom)

1. Note the cloudy overcast day. Cold cold.
2. New York Stock Exchange Building. We were there on Saturday so all was quiet for us.
3. George Washington. Love this guy.
4. This was cool since it was the Bull that came to life in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with I’m-Always-The-Same-Character Nicolas Cage.
5. The 9/11 Memorial Waterfall. It drops 30 feet down the hole. There are two of them, for the two Towers.
6. The only surviving tree that was in between the Towers.
7. Felix, freezing her freaking a** off in front of the Waterfall. As the water fell into the fountain, it was blowing out on to the sidewalks. So not only were we wet from the rain, we were drenched from the Waterfall. Amazing we didn’t catch pneumonia.
8. The cemetery that was in “National Treasure” one of our favorite movies WITH … Ta Da!! Nicolas Cage (see above note)
9. Trinity Church. Not only was it an amazing, gorgeous, reverent building … it also gave us a place to finally get warm and dry off. It was inspiring (because I could finally feel my toes. I BELIEVE!!)
10. Over to the Lincoln Center where we saw War Horse. I did doze at the very beginning (hey, I was finally warm and sitting; throw me a bone) but then as it picked up speed, I was riveted. It was so amazing. Seriously cried through the entire last act.
11. After War Horse, we quickly got something to eat and then sprinted to see our show “Chicago.” Some people saw “Godspell,” others saw “Phantom.” I’ve seen the movie but sitting right under the dancers was totally amazing.

Then we staggered wearily back to our hotel and crashed at 11 pm … so that we could be bright-eyed for the next day. Yeah, I’m tired now.

New York, Day Two

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Good Morning New York City!!! Looking out our window.

Looking down on 42nd Street.        This bakery was featured in “Sex in the City.”

  

The above four pics were taken at the Riley-Grier Studios, where the kids had one of three scheduled acting workshops. Most of it was improv, which is always fun. Life is Improv, as I have found, so this is always good practice. The man in the purple shirt, Mr. Moberly, their teacher.

   

1) Felix and I waiting for a train.   2) The other adult, Stephanie, taking a break from walking.   3) The entrance to The Dakota Building, where John Lennon was shot.   4) The entrance to Strawberry Fields and the “Imagine” mosaic, Central Park.

 

1) Felix in Central Park.                            2) My other boyfriend, Shakespeare.

 

We ended our long day by watching “How to Succeed in Business …” starring Nick Jonas. He was surprisingly good. And Beau Bridges … yeah … still a cutie since his hot brother Jeff, has gone downhill.  I believe I dozed only twice during this show. Which for me, is a record.

To be continued to Day 3, Saturday …. and it began as the worse day of the trip but ended as being the best.