Off to NYC on Pearl Harbor Day

So we closed out a case at the office, and then D2 had a request -- would I stop by her place in the Grove, and fetch a jacket to take in my carry on? D2 is an amazing young woman, but maybe her clearest flaw (we should all have flaws as silly as this) is she simply cannot pack well. She's staying in NYC for 9 days, and is checking a bag, but STILL is short on space. So I came by, went up for some nice balcony time, and took the auxiliary coat -- to take up much of my carry on space -- which is fine, as I take LITTLE for a 2 night trip.

From there, I drove to the Gables to meet Norman and Barry for a men's night at Ruth's Chris -- we caught up nicely, and toasted the end of '19 and hopes for a great "year of clear vision -- 20/20."

And I only slept 3 hours -- which often happens the night before I travel. That's ok -- I won't be taking the controls of the 737 today.

It occurs to me I'm going to my family's ancestral homeland on Pearl Harbor Day -- really a Date that, while it lives in infamy, per FDR, is also the beginning of my family's history.

Dad was pushing dress carts on the Lower East Side, as he told me the tale, when the city stopped -- movie-like. Everyone listened to FDR on radios. Dad knew he would soon be drafted, and he was -- the coming April. While stationed in Pasadena, he married Mom, and she became pregnant with my oldest sister -- born in January of '45. Wait! I have a SISTER turning 75???? WTF?????

Anyway, that was the start of my nuclear family -- my younger sister came in June of '48, and I came a bit later, in July of '61. We were all born in NYC -- my sisters in The Bronx, and I in Queens.

D2 and Jonathan lived in the City for over 4 years -- always in Manhattan. D2 loved to dismiss Wifey and my NY experience as "B and T" -- Wifey was a bridge and tunnel person -- not a real NYC resident. For me -- I was a Long Island guy -- even LESS of a city guy.

Big Man and AA willing, D2 and I will be in the City by lunch time. We have no plans except dinner tonight. We're staying in Greenwich Village -- D2's old 'hood.

Sunday I may see my old friends Mark and Rita -- if they're willing to come into the City. And Sunday night D2 and I have tickets for a Broadway show.

Monday, we check out of our hotel, and D2 moves to another one -- right next to her office in the Flatiron District. Jonathan is due up Wednesday, and they can catch up with their friends and Jonathan's sister and brother in law.

I'm going to reach out to my cousin Steve, who lives in Jackson Heights, near LGA. If he's free Monday, maybe we can have lunch near his house. I haven't seen him in quite awhile -- since he visited Miami following a cruise.

But I plan to feel my Dad's spirit -- imagining him at 22 -- pushing the carts, singing out loud as he worked. His future was set by HIS tough, immigrant father -- staying at the same schmata company, and maybe working his way up. WW II changed all that -- my Dad returned to NYC and worked three jobs to support his growing family.  By the time I came, he had the luxury of a single job -- tri state salesman for Toscany, a giftware imported. The other day, I noticed a Toscany knit hat on my shelf -- some of the swag I have from that long closed company.

D2 is health conscious, and along with her sister is on a mission to keep me around, so our meals tend towards the lower cholesterol and lower carb. But I just may have one corned beef on rye -- Dad's favorite -- if the opportunity presents itself.

He's gone more than 37 years -- and I still miss him daily.

See you soon, NYC...