New York, New York
I love New York- no reference to the corny coined phrase that has now become the standard jingle for this city. I just simply love New York. I first visited the city when I was much younger and upon my panic on a train to the call “last stop Manhattan”, I learned that Manhattan and New York City were one in the same. A bit of an abrupt welcome and then the first glimpse of homelessness in Grand central station, I was overwhelmed. Several years later I returned there for my first post-college job, remained there four years single, returned there for another four years married and brought my son into the world.
Last weekend, I returned there again with my two daughters and saw the city with both fresh eyes through them as well as relived many happy memories. We had a great time filled with school visits (Parsons School of Design), shopping, amazing meals and visits with old friends. I must say, it was hard to leave. I love New York!
One of the many things I have always loved most is that although it is city of many many people, many many buildings and a constant interaction of all cultures, languages and sensory overload- it is at times very intimate. The neighborhoods are just that- small niches where people put out their welcome mats, (altough very small) and set down roots. I loved walking through my old neighborhoods, seeing the same shops years later, same people in those shops, and for a brief moment, feeling like I was home.
Zionsville is a long way from New York city- in many ways. Yet, it has it’s own pulse and own pace and can easily adapt some of the wonderful qualities that make New York special. New York manages to welcome many unique and diverse cultures yet cultivate a sense of a hometown. There are opportunities here to do the same and how fortumnate we would all be to take hold of those opportunities, branch out, and make our worlds a bit bigger, a bit more tolerant and I believe, a bit more full.
