Another Day ......

...... in NY.

Well, much to my relief, I did not kill my mother Thursday.
Though I really started to wonder at around 10:00 yesterday morning when she still hadn't made an appearance from her room.
After all, I walked her all over this city.
More than once.
More than twice.
All in one day.

Thursday night we went to see a show called "Old Jews Telling Jokes".
We had walked all over this city beforehand.
We got home around 5:30 or so to relax and clean up before the 8:00 curtain call.
Or so I thought.

I checked the tickets at least twice to make sure of the time.
Yep, 8:00.
I wore my contacts all day so that my distance vision would be sharp.
Which means my reading vision was less so.

At 6:30, as we were both just relaxing in the living room, I glanced at the tickets again.
And then sat bolt upright and screamed, "OMG!!!  THe show starts at 7:00, NOT 8:00!!"
She ran to her room, I ran to mine and we did a quick change.
In less than 5 minutes we were heading out the door and to the elevator.
I warned her, "You're going to have to walk fast.  Can you do that?"  She said yes, and indicated that it wouldn't be a problem.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
We only got about 2 blocks, and I was walking quickly, but not nearly at my fastest pace, when I looked behind me and knew that at this rate, only one of us would make it to the show.
So I decided to hail a cab.
My mother was very, very relieved.

After we got into the cab she admitted that she had been ready to fall to the ground and tell me, "Keep going.  Save yourself!!" and had completely given up on seeing the show.
Good thing I looked back.

We made it to the show on time, all thanks given to the cab driver who got us there, with 2 minutes to spare.

He was much better than the cab driver who took us to Ground Zero.  That bozo took us all over the city before finally dropping us off.  What should've been a 20 minute cab ride was actually about a 45 minute cab ride.
His tip was less than gracious.

We made our way to the memorial and then got into the very, very long, Disney-World-like maze of a line and proceeded to bake in the warm sun.

Thankfully it was a lovely day, but the sun was very, very warm on our heads.  And everywhere else.

We were in line about 10 minutes or so when I noticed that everyone around me was looking up and so I looked up (and not the usual looking up that one does in that line).
The crowd suddenly became very quiet ...... as we watched a large jetliner fly directly over the top of the still-being-constructed, tallest-building-in-the-western-hemisphere (as of yesterday morning at around 7:00 a.m., Eastern time).

It was surreal, shocking, scary, and almost normal ... all at the same time.

My very first thought wasn't much of a thought.  It was a plane, after all, and I'm used to seeing planes.
But then the rest of my brain kicked in and I realized what building it was heading towards, and the panic that rose up in my throat was squashed by the shock and surprise.

We all watched that plane as it approached, flew over, and the flew past the new building.  There was a sense of relief as we realized that it was moving on ...... towards wherever it was going, and that everything was ok.

It happened so quickly that I don't think anyone near me took a picture.  I think that's due to the surprise and shock.

We were there for another 2 hours and we never saw another plane fly over.  I have no idea what was going on, or why that plane flew so close.  I have been able to find no flight path information for NY/Manhattan so I'm still stumped.  It would seem that planes would not be allowed to fly over that building.  Especially as low as that plane flew.  But I can't find anything that supports that thought.

All I know is it was so very surreal and shocking that I will never forget it.
I remember standing in the kitchen, watching the aftermath of that first plane hitting the first building on September 11, 2001.
I went into the garage where Jim was trying to find something before he left for work.  For some reason he left late that day. I still have no idea why, but I was very grateful to have him beside me as we continued to watch everything unfold.
I told him that something had happened at the World Trade Center, but no one seemed to know the facts.
He and I had just returned home from spending the weekend in NY with is brother and soon-to-be-wife.  Daughter #1 and I had eaten dinner at Windows on the World with them just a few months earlier.

Jim came inside with me and we continued watching the news coverage ...... and so watched that second plane come in and slam into the second building.  That was the first really surreal thing I'd ever seen.  Part of my brain took in the plane and wondered what it was doing, and the other part of my brain watched it hit the second building, and put two and two together.  Both sides of my brain had a difficult time coming together.

That's how I felt yesterday, watching that plane fly over the new building.
I'm glad that it continued to fly on its merry way.
But I'll never forget that sight.  And how it felt.

As for the rest of the day ...... we took the subway back to Times Square, had lunch at a small, but very good deli, went to the Hello Deli, where we met Rupert Jee, and his wife took a picture of the three of us.  No one else was in there at that time, so it was easy to talk to them and to ask them questions.  They were both very nice.
I met Rupert several years ago, but refrained from trying to remind him about that.

For those of you who've lived under a rock for the last 20+ years .... Rupert Jee owns this deli, which happens to be right around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theatre where David Letterman tapes his show.
He's had Rupert on his show at least thousands of times over the past couple of decades.

After our "brush with greatness" we walked back to the apartment to rest and then get ready for "Nice Work If You Can Get It", with Matthew Broderick.  It was a fun show and we enjoyed it.

We didn't get out of there until almost 11:00.  And then mom wanted to eat dinner.
Go figure.
Why can't everyone just live on two meals (or less) a day the way that I do?  I don't have time to sit down and eat several times a day.  And besides, I don't get hungry at exactly the sane time every day.

So we found a restaurant and ate a very late,  but oh-so-New Yorker dinner.
Ugh.

So ...... here are the pictures from yesterday.  I'm going to refrain from giving them captions ...... unless I deem it absolutely necessary.  If you have questions, then please ask them in the comment section below.  I will be happy to answer all that I can.  : )
Enjoy!

 This picture is in honor of my friend Abby, who's husband was killed on 9/11.  His name is at the very bottom in this picture.  It was the first time that I was able to find it.

  The "Survivor Tree".  Google it.  It's impressive.  And amazing that it's so healthy and green today!

                           Trinity Church:

This picture is dedicated to Michele and Dana ...... especially to Dana, with who I ran around Myrtle Beach, looking for beautiful flowers just like these for all of our centerpieces..  Too bad this color wasn't available to us!

Heading back to Times Square for the show tonight.  Before dark.

And really?  I guess it's only fair:

Rupert, me and my Mom.

I'll try to post today's pictures tomorrow.  My photo stream seems a bit lazy.
Well, more than a bit, but what can you do?

We fly back to Texas tomorrow.
I'll try really hard to not cry.
But wow ...... I wish I could stay.
Soon.
Very soon.
:)

Happy Saturday/Sunday, Peeps.
And Happy Mother's to all of you Mother's out there.
You rock!!!
:)