As I walked back to the train station at 7:00 am this morning from my daughter’s new apartment, I felt refreshed. Yes, I was more refreshed than I had been during my last sleepover in the BIG CITY. No earplugs for me this time. I didn’t need them anymore. Nope. No earplugs. That’s because my daughter A has moved up in the BIG CITY that never sleeps, to an apartment where her visiting mom (and A too) can now get their noggins.
No more loud chatter all night from the bar and restaurant below. No more three flights to walk up with a huff and a puff at the end of the stairs. No more subway ride from the train station. (Okay, there are still a few noises from the bustling cars that speed around the street from the Queens Midtown Tunnel– but the noise is mild.) And, now I also can walk to Penn Station from A’s apartment. What a find!
Yes, A has moved up in the BIG CITY by moving down (from the upper Eastside) to Murray Hill area in the 30s, not too far from where I used to live more than 25+ years ago. There’s a doorman (who took my little red suitcase to store while I went to my evening event). There’s an elevator that I took up to her third floor apartment when I arrived at 10:00 pm for my sleepover.
“I like it,” I said to A as I entered her new one bedroom crib that had been divided to fit two (as they often do these days in the BIG CITY). “It’s nice.”
There was a teeny-tiny kitchen in the corner, a living room with two black couches (from IKEA) and a new flat screen television, and two big bedrooms (according to NYC standards), both large enough to fit full size beds (A got the bedroom with a closet, complete with a closet organizer…it’s almost like she won the lottery.). The bathroom was teeny-tiny too, but clean and neat.
“Bring a towel,” said A, the day before I was to arrive.
“Bring a towel?,” I said, “What happened to the extra new towels I bought you for your Upper Eastside apartment a few months ago?”
“I’m using them now,” A said. “I haven’t done towel laundry.”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “Well, I guess I can pack one towel.” Then I can leave it in your teeny tiny bathroom and hopefully come visit again sometime.
I woke early. A helped me set my cell phone alarm for 6:00 am to ensure that I was in the bathroom and using my bath towel before she and her roommate started their morning routines. I was out the door for my stroll across the BIG CITY streets before A and her roommate C awoke.
I walked up Third Avenue, passed my old stomping ground. It felt like old times. I remember when my legs were in such good shape that I used to run up and down the BIG CITY streets all hours of the morning, noon and night.
Jackson Hole, the popular burger place that my late husband and I used to frequent was still there on Third between 34th and 35th Streets. I was twenty-something when we used to frequent that spot with its huge burgers and fries and bowls of pickles. Now I am fifty-something walking back from my twenty-something daughter A’s apartment. WOW, how did that happen? I feel like I’m always saying, where has the time gone? But, I have to say it again:
WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?
I think I have to shout it out loud two more times:
WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?
WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?
I loved the BIG CITY during my fast paced stroll this morning. The streets were quiet. The BIG CITY was just waking up…just the early morning joggers were on the streets…and a few pigeons too. I didn’t have to maneuver around too many people with my little red suitcase. Unlike my last sleepover in the BIG CITY, I didn’t run over any feet or other body parts while I walked to catch my train back to Philadelphia.
I was happy for my daughter A. I am so proud of her accomplishments in the BIG CITY. The BIG CITY where I started my career and where she is moving into the next phase of her career and exciting life.
I hope she will invite me back for another sleepover in the BIG CITY. I left my blue bath towel neatly hanging in the teeny tiny bathroom, so the next time it will be waiting for me. Oh, I hope she will invite me back. And if she does, I’ll even take her to dinner at my favorite burger joint around the corner from her apartment. I wonder if the burgers are still as good as they were 25+ years ago? Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
Judi
Hi Judi,
Isn't it nice when we can see our children take off on their own–while we still act as the wind beneath their wings? I'm still waiting for my daughter to graduate from college so I can watch her soar even higher. Love the post! Hope you made it back to Philly safely.