NYC

We somehow learned that our oldest, who lives in SF CA, planned to visit the two younger ones in NYC for the holidays (Xmas 2012).  So, a very rare opportunity to see all 3 of our children in one place!  We cashed in hotel points, airline coupons, and wielded the almighty credit card, and our holiday plans were set!

Oldest lives in SF CA; younger two live in Nolita in a miniscule 2-BR 4th floor walkup with a rent totally out of proportion to the size & state of the apartment.  "Kitchen" (if it could even be called that) consists of a refrig, stove, and battered sink next to a living room that's slightly larger than our AH master BR closet (and NO we do NOT live in a McMansion).  But it's a lively area, full of shops, gentrified start-up restaurants and bars, and the like.  Chinatown (with its cheaper veggies & fruits) is a short walk away.  OK, so no ACE Hardware, CVS/Walgreens, Target, or supermarket anywhere nearby, but a nearby subway line promises connection to most parts of the city.

Our kids shrug off the inconveniences and the noise.  Ah, well, climbing 4 flights of stairs daily is good exercise.  And I am getting used to it, though SF & I vowed that we would never, ever help our children move again, after we carried 800+ pounds of possessions and unassembled IKEA furniture up that narrow and steep staircase last summer.

Besides, their next door neighbor, Lucy, just turned 90, and SHE walks up and down those stairs.  Lucy invited me into her apartment once.  She pays some ridiculous rent-controlled amount/month - $85?  That's why she won't move - if she does, she'll have to pay market rate.  Her apartment has a little altar, and no easy washing facilities.  There's a bathtub in the middle of the living room-kitchen, but it seemed t/b used as a storage space.

But Lucy's happy enough.  Her son is the building superintendent and keeps at eye on her.  Our own son says that Lucy goes downstairs every day in the summer when the weather is good.  She has some friends - also elderly Italian women - and they sit outside the building, talk, greet passers-by, and watch the world go by.  An inexpensive form of entertainment, indeed!  That, in fact, is how I first met Lucy.  After we unloaded the first 500 pounds of our children's stuff from our rented van, piling it on the sidewalk in front of the building entrance (a narrow & unobtrusive door - I never would have noticed it had I been an uninterested passer-by), I stood guard over the pile, convinced that some nefarious New Yorker surely would abscond with our children's possessions if I relaxed my vigilance for even a moment.  It wasn't a bad job - far better than, say, carrying boxes up 4 flights of stairs.  Lucy was sitting outside watching this, and asked why I wasn't helping.  When I explained (leaving out the "nefarious"), she said, "You help your son and husband.  I'll watch your stuff."  OK, how was an 88-year-old woman going to stave off the thieves?  But could I say that?  So, I started carrying stuff up the stairs.  WHEW!  Nothing was taken.  But I had to work quite a bit harder!

Back to our holiday visit.  Oh, did I get distracted?  Now it is half a year later & I forgot what I was going to write about!

So, will close...RIGHT NOW!