NYC Mom

I used to be on time or early for everything until I had children. Now I'm usually late. This is no exception. Happy New Year!
The holidays were lovely. Not a lot of sadness as I had anticipated. Then on Tuesday the 20th, it was a bittersweet day for me. It was the first anniversary of my father's death which was the bitter. I knew it was coming up so I was braced for it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but it wasn't easy either. The heart wrenching pain I feel in my chest when I think of him has subsided somewhat but there's still a dull throb.
The sweet was this:

and this:
We finally have an intelligent competent man leading our nation. He's coming into this job with the odds of success stacked so high against him that I fear he will be overwhelmed. But on the other hand..he can't fuck it up any more than Georgie did, can he?
I watched the inauguration on and off all day shedding both tears of joy and tears of sadness. Suffice it to say it was a soggy day. But a feeling of relief and renewal seems to have enveloped the nation. And a funny thing happened. I was watching this:



and then the enormity of it hit me. I never looked at him as a black man. I mean I KNOW he's black but I just looked at him as the best man for the job. But then the history and the real weight of it all just hit me and then I was off and running...crying and laughing at the same time. Yeah I know...certifiable. But happy! Glad for a new year, a new president and a renewed feeling of love for my country.

Sure does look pretty doesn't it? Don't let it fool you. See that empty sidewalk at the bottom of the photo? In reality the people are pressed together like sardines from the side of the building out into the street on any given night to see the tree at Rock Center. It really is fun and beautiful there but I wish everyone else would stay home so I can go with my friends and family and enjoy the sights and sounds of the season in New York City. Eh a girl can dream. I'm actually thinking of getting everyone up one morning at about 5 am and heading up there before sunrise because for sure we'll be the only lunatics up and out at that time of day. Except, of course, for the occasional drunken NYU frat boy who'll be there trying to walk on the ice wearing only a Santa hat and socks.

Ugh. I'm feeling quite torn right now. Glenn and I rarely disagree on things especially important things. This is a big one. I don't want to state the specifics because it's not my story to tell. I just want to write about the conflicted feelings I'm having.
It's hard when you have to make a choice about doing what's considered to be the "right" thing to do and doing what you feel is the best thing to do, for you. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our personal feelings and do something for someone else that we find to be distasteful. It's hard though when you try to teach your kids to be true to themselves then you have to put on a facade for the sake of someone else. I knew things would come to this eventually but not just yet. I hate the indifference that I feel when I know I should be feeling sad and upset. I'm not the only one with the indifferent feelings...we all feel it and it makes me sad that we were meant to feel this way about someone who should be very important and revered in our lives. I don't want a decision to be made that may be regretted later. We'll get through this but I'm afraid that it may leave a scar.

This has been my husband’s gripe for a long time now. How do we go from Halloween to Christmas? He gets angry that Thanksgiving is forgotten and we zip right along to Christmas at the beginning of November. It’s come to him not wanting Christmas music playing in our home till after Thanksgiving.

He loves Thanksgiving. It was a time where his whole family got together and truly gave thanks for everything that had occurred the previous year. His dad was a police officer for the NYPD so I’m sure that him even attending each Thanksgiving dinner was a blessing in and of itself.

Glenn also loves the food. We have to have Thanksgiving at home so he can have a leftover turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich on white bread with extra mayonnaise the day after Thanksgiving.

When my husband was in the service he was stationed up in Connecticut. His family was in Brooklyn, where he was raised, so he’d go home for weekends sometimes. Join the Navy and see the world, huh?

One weekend he came home in June with a friend. His mother decided to make a big Thanksgiving dinner that weekend. Turkey and all the trimmings! What a treat! They had a great dinner and his dad went down to the pub to have a beer with the guys. Before Glenn headed back up to Connecticut, he went to the pub to say goodbye to his dad. As he was leaving, his dad grabbed him in a hug, gave him a kiss and told him he loved him. Another guy in the bar teased him for kissing his grown son to which my father in law replied “He’ll always be my son and I’ll always kiss him and tell him I love him”

The next morning Glenn got a call from his CO. His father had passed away the night before in his sleep at age 50.

I guess that’s one of the reasons he holds Thanksgiving so dear. It brings his dad back for at least one day out of the year.

And he, as a father now, never forgets to kiss his boys and tell them every day how much he loves them. He even lets them listen to Christmas music on Thanksgiving.

The President Elect Of The United States Of America

My Election Day

One of my sons had school on Election Day but I chose to keep him home so he could join me and his brother at the voting booth. I think a day long lesson in Current Events and a possible history making vote is more important than a day at school sometimes. We went to the polling place only to find a line. A long one. There were 5 districts voting here but a line for only one of the districts. Of course the line was for MY district. So we waited. There's playground nearby so the boys played. I chatted with a neighbor. We waited some more. Finally we were inside. I took Pat with me into the booth because Glenn didn't want to go. He's thirteen. That should be self explanatory. Pat got to turn the key to vote for the office of President of The United States of America. He and I both got chills and giggles.
Now the really long wait began. The day was long. Longer than any I can remember. Finally polls start closing. Obama took the early lead and he never lost it. I was on the phone with my best friend who couldn't contain herself. She was really cute. Laughing and elated. I couldn't do it. I couldn't dare to hope that we would have real change. Not after the last two elections.
Finally a little before eleven pm I did the math. He got it! He won! I could feel my heart in my throat and the tears started flowing. Then it was announced. Senator Barack Obama had won the race to become the 44th President of The United States..
Senator McCain came out with his wife and his running mate and her husband. He made a gracious concession speech asking us to now come together as a nation to support our new President. I can only hope that his constituents are as gracious about Senator McCain’s loss as this man himself was last night.
Then it came. The moment I have been waiting for for months. President Elect Barack Obama came out, with his beautiful family, to make his victory speech. As always, the man is flawless. Touching upon the concerns that we all have regarding foreign policy and the economy. The Presidential mantle sitting beautifully on his shoulders. He touches a place inside of me that makes me feel that we can be better than we have been. That we are on the precipice of greatness both his and ours as a nation. That we can, once again, be the greatest nation in the world. Under his leadership I truly believe that we can achieve the greatness that our forefathers fought so hard and long for us to attain.
I’ve never been more proud to be an American. I have never been more hopeful about the future of our country. I will probably shed more tears of joy over the next few days. But that's okay. Making history is always worth shedding tears over.

This is the day that will make history. Make sure you get out there and be a part of it!

This has been my husband’s gripe for a long time now. How do we go from Halloween to Christmas? He gets angry that Thanksgiving is forgotten and we zip right along to Christmas at the beginning of November. It’s come to him not wanting Christmas music playing in our home till after Thanksgiving.
He loves Thanksgiving. It was a time where his whole family got together and truly gave thanks for everything that had occurred the previous year. His dad was a police officer for the NYPD so I’m sure that him even attending each Thanksgiving dinner was a blessing in and of itself.
Glenn also loves the food. We have to have Thanksgiving at home so he can have a leftover turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich on white bread with extra mayonnaise the day after Thanksgiving.
When my husband was in the service he was stationed up in Connecticut. His family was in Brooklyn, where he was raised, so he’d go home for weekends sometimes. Join the Navy and see the world, huh?
One weekend he came home in June with a friend. His mother decided to make a big Thanksgiving dinner that weekend. Turkey and all the trimmings! What a treat! They had a great dinner and his dad went down to the pub to have a beer with the guys. Before he headed back up to Connecticut, he went to the pub to say goodbye to his dad. As he was leaving, his dad grabbed him in a hug, gave him a kiss and told him he loved him. Another guy in the bar teased him for kissing his grown son to which my father in law replied “He’ll always be my son and I’ll always kiss him and tell him I love him”
The next morning Glenn got a call from his CO. His father had passed away the night before in his sleep at age 50.
I guess that’s one of the reasons he holds Thanksgiving so dear. It brings his dad back for at least one day out of the year.
And he, as a father now, never forgets to kiss his boys and tell them every day how much he loves them. He even lets them listen to Christmas music on Thanksgiving.

This weekend my sister and her family came in to the city. We all decided to go down to the South Street Seaport to enjoy the weather and have a look see at what's going on down there. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lovely time but I must admit this was the highlight of my day. Only 6 more days until history is made.
Don't forget to get out and Barack the vote, people!

My sister went out to a bar this week with a cousin of ours. This bar is in New Jersey. She was talking to friends and one of them told her that she had friends that wouldn't be voting this year. They didn't think that McCain was the better candidate yet they refused to vote for Obama. Because he's black. I knew that this would be the case for some people, I don't have my head in the sand but I truly thought it would be older people or people who were brought up in certain communities. I never thought I'd hear of this from a 30 something year old person in New Jersey. I can understand if you don't agree with his policies or are a die hard Republican who will vote that way no matter what but solely not voting for the better candidate because of the color of his skin? Even now, writing this, I'm shaking my head in disbelief. Are people so prejudiced that they won't take advantage of their right to vote? They'd rather sit back and give the candidate they know isn't suited for the job a better chance to win this election by not voting for the better man for the job?
Will it ever end? Will people ever be able to see beyond their prejudices to do what they know is right? I hope I live to see that day.