New York, New York, It's a Helluva Town!

Last night my sister read me a poem her 10 yr old daughter Ashley wrote. It was beautiful, all about New York, quite the little writer, she's also super smart and not only book smart, she just has a wild imagination, an incredible vocabulary and the skills of an attorney when arguing her side of a disagreement or what she thinks are unreasonable rules her parents enforce on her. Though born and raised in New England, she's been to New York many times as most our family lives in this area. She's been to Manhattan more times than I was at the age of ten, went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and I've lived here my whole life and have only seen it on TV! I think she's even going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway when they all come down for Thanksgiving. She and brother Shane love New York Italian ices, Italian bread and bagels! My sister too misses her Brooklyn pizza and Chinese food, it's just not the same in New England. And her husband after tasting his first real bagel had me bringing smelly onion bagels on the plane, I always felt like everyone thought I never bathed!

I think Ashley's poem was about her love of New York, and the excitement of the city now. It's lit up like a Christmas tree all year round in Times Square, I'm even amazed at it. I also think along with her visits to our great city, she is with family, especially her cousins, they are a little gang and for the most part are best friends, I love how they love each other!

Then this morning I was watching the news and they were talking about how they are going to be changing Times Square even more than it already has. It's going to be a big open plaza, no curbs, with benches and lots of walking room. I think it's a great idea, much safer for all, it's way too crowded now. Not at all like it was when I starting working in Times Square in 1978.

I worked at RKO on 40th and Broadway until 1986, not the safest area. As you can see from the pictures there were X-rated shows everywhere. It was on the tip on the fashion district and below 40th it was much nicer, safer. Herald Square, Macy's and Gimbels too.



A Horn and Hardart Automat restaurant! They had food behind small glass windows and you put coins in and then the door would open and you would take your soup, or pie, whatever. That chain probably went out of business not long after I stopped working in Times Square.


The next time I worked in Times Square was in 2002 and 2003. Way different! Times Square was amazing! I even gawked at the lights and the stores just like all the tourists! But I worked on 45th and Broadway, right in the center of the madness!

My office was above Planet Hollywood (pictured here to the left) and the huge Virgin Records store, also a block away from the Toys R Us with the ferris wheel. It was packed at all hours of the day and night.


And I can't forget "The Naked Cowboy"! His regular spot was right in the middle of Broadway down the block from my office. He would stand on a little island in the middle of busy traffic. He's one of the many crazy, interesting street entertainers you'll find all over the city, on streets, in the subways, on the Staten Island Ferry, parks, everywhere. People would stop in the middle of the street with him to take their picture.

Me? Well I never stopped for a picture, but I certainly did walk slower than I normally did!

I can't wait to see what the new Times Square will look like. I never would have imagined all those years ago that it would look like it does now. I know people of my parents generation are amazed, they remember how great Times Square was when they were growing up and then watched it go downhill. They used to go to movies in Times Square, even theaters where you saw a movie followed by live entertainment. I think Frank Sinatra even got his start singing at the Paramount Theatre in Times Square after a movie? Maybe one of you know? Tell me! Dance Halls. Then it got seedy.

But it's come back, like so many places in New York have!

New York, New York!
It's a helluva town!

Cause we're cousins, identical cousins and you'll find...

A few months after I was born my family moved from Brooklyn to Long Island and my Aunt Libby was still living with us at that time too. My father loved it, my mom and Aunt Libby not so much. They grew up in Brooklyn, as did my dad, but it was a different way of life out there and they missed their lives in Brooklyn, family still lived in the neighborhood, being able to walk to all kinds of stores, and even our only grandma still lived in Brooklyn too.

I really don't remember living in Long Island as we moved back to Brooklyn when I was just about 5. But during that time we lived close to my father's brother and his family and spent so much time together. We all loved each other very much, and though I just have some blurred memories of being together as kids I remember their house, their yard, which of course seemed to be so big. The swings were behind a big bunch of trees and we called it the forest. They had a teepee back there too, but my biggest memory is the red cardboard brick blocks in the front room. We loved to play with those blocks, all of us making forts and enjoying this simple toy for hours. And most of all I always remembered the love we had for each other.

As I've written before, it is so hard to keep in touch with all the people in our lives. Even our own families. One of my brothers lives in Florida and I hardly get to see him or his family. When we do get together it's even better than it was growing up. Our age differences don't matter anymore. We love watching all our nieces and nephews loving each other, loving their family. We really are an especially close family. My brother in law Mike used to joke that we made the Waltons look dysfunctional!

Even with my sisters. Before they were moms we talked on the phone pretty much every day. My brothers-in-laws couldn't understand what we possibly could have to talk about every day and for so long. Now my sisters are moms, they work, they have so much going on with their kids. I work weird hours, we don't have phone conversations that often any more. It just happens, not because you don't care or don't want to speak to each other, there's just too much going on in our lives. Before the job I have now, I spent 4 hours a day just commuting to and from work, that took out a big chunk of my time.

Facebook, I know, has created problems for people, marriages, friendships, kids bullying, etc. But for me it has been a wonderful way to find old friends, to every once in a while just say "hi" which for me means I know you're out there, just letting you know I care, you're in my heart. Even just the intial hello and not being in contact after that, we've acknowledged that we meant something to each other in our journey through life.

Unfortunately my family lost touch with our cousins in Long Island. My dad died, my mom remarried, our grandmother also passed away, then my cousins' dad, my Uncle Bill, passed away as well. We were growing up, we had friends and lives in our own neighborhoods, school, social activities, we should have made the time, but again I know how hard it is, even with your own family.

From the time I started being on line, I started searching for my cousins. I didn't know Sandra's married name but I did know Wendy's, I searched for years, and at one point I did find Sandra but it was a time we were both going through so much in our lives and again we lost touch. I searched on and off for years and because of Facebook I found them last year.

It has been an amazing year!

I talked to both Wendy and Sandra on the phone days after my first contact on Facebook. They both live in Colorado and at the time Wendy's daughter was due to give birth to her first child and was coming to New York as soon as her grandchild arrived. Of course she had to spend most of her time with her little grandson, Evan, the next generation of our family! But on her way back to Colorado we planned to meet.


We met at Grand Central Station by the big clock. I saw her first, and just from just from behind I could tell it was her. I waited a minute or so before approaching her, watching her look for me and I could tell she was as excited as me to be together again. It was a short visit, maybe about an hour, but it was wonderful, not awkward, very comfortable right away, we were a loving family, we never lost that.

Then in May Sandra came to New York for her friend's wedding and I was invited as her guest. She added a few days on to her trip and we had a small family reunion and again not awkward, we all got along just like we did as kids. And Steven came too. Unfortunately they, like us, lost a brother. We lost Michael and they lost Doug, both of whom I know would have been so happy to be together again, they were big time buddies as kids.


When Sandra was here it was amazing to find out how much we had in common, so many things. Even before she was here, I would be sending her an email and as I was hitting send on my email, my phone would beep that I just received a text and who was it from but Sandra. This has happened so many times I can't tell you. It happened again this morning.

She came here for a friend's wedding, a friend she met at her first job at Burger King, which was also my first job. When she was unpacking her bag, I looked at a pair of her shoes and asked if she just got them, she did, I went in my closet and showed her my new shoes, the very same ones. We found ourselves answering questions exactly the same way, at the same time. We are very much family!

We had a wonderful few days together, talking about our pasts, our present and our future together. She's even petite like me, as is Wendy, and I have to bust their chops about being smaller than me. I've always been the marker in my family as far as height is concerned. For each of my nieces and nephews it has been a milestone in their lives when they are taller than me, mostly by the time they are 10 to 12 years old! But now it's Wendy. She's the tinest and I'm taller than two members of my family!

When Sandra was here we also went to see her mom. My Aunt Joan is 85 years old and though she is in tremendous shape physically, she suffers from Alzheimers. Such a sad horrible disease. Here she is this beautiful, physically healthy woman and she doesn't know who her family is, even who she is. I will say that while I was visiting her, there were three times that I saw recognition in her face and she actually said to me "I knew the girl who was sitting there before." I don't know who she thought I was, I look a lot like her daughter Wendy and very much like my mom, she could have thought I was either of them, or maybe she did recognize me, but whoever she thought I was, she knew it was someone who loved her, I could see her whole face light up. I wish we had connected before this happened to my aunt, I would have loved to talk to her as an adult. She was a very organized woman, a classy dresser and beautiful. After our grandmother died she took all her pictures and put them together in a book. Steven brought the book to our little reunion and looking through these pictures was a blast. My grandparents in their younger days and all of us, my brothers and sisters, pictures of us growing up, our school photos, all pictures that we would have lost had they been in our house! We were always going through our boxes of pictures, taking them, not putting most back and now so many are gone. But Aunt Joan saved all that for us too, again we're family.

We just had another family reunion. Wendy came back to New York for her grandson's first birthday and her brother Steven and his fiance Nancy hosted a BBQ at their home when she first arrived. Steven and Nancy live in the house my cousins grew up in and being there was like coming home. The yard was smaller, the forest was just a few trees and the swings and the teepee are gone, the inside of the house has changed somewhat, but certain things are the same, it was surreal being there.

My sister Linda, brother Bob and his wife Janet also came to the BBQ and everyone was blown away at how much Wendy and I look alike and more act alike. It was amazing even for me, watching this woman use her hands while she talked, the expressions on her face, the way her whole tiny body moved while she talked, it was like I was watching myself in the mirror!

We may have missed a lot of years together, but none of us forgot the love we had and still have for each other. We are family and nothing will separate us now!!!

I'm so lucky!!!

I took my own advice...

Yesterday I wrote about my love of the rain and how we should all go outside and act like a kid again, dance and sing in the rain, splash in the puddles!

Well I did just that.

I mentioned that my car broke down and though it did start up again, it ended up being my alternator and battery so I had to get my car fixed, and by the way I call my car Ida, just creates a good karma for me.

My brother let me use his car to run some errands yesterday morning before I could pick up Ida. I drove him to the bus stop early in the morning (5:30 am!!!!) and would call him when I dropped his car off at the bus stop for him to pick up after work. He had also asked me to look at his computer since it was out of whack, so I went to his place to see if I could fix it. I was able to and called him, and so Joey, I heard his phone ringing as it was sitting on the desk in front of me. I did get a call from a number I didn't recognize and knew it was him. Joey! I'll tell you one thing about him, there's still that little kid in him, he doesn't worry about much, and somehow everything always works out in his favor. It's all in our attitude, about everything, it really does make a difference.

He told me to drop his car off at a bus stop about a mile from my house.

It was pouring, I mean really coming down, but I decided that it was the perfect opportunity for me to take that walk in the rain, to feel like a little kid again, not worrying about my shoes getting wet from a puddle, couldn't care less if a car splashed me driving by, I had so much fun!

I was Gene Kelly in "Singing in the Rain". Maybe not singing about being happy and falling in love, but happy about my life, the people in my life, my family and friends, how blessed I was. And this was as I was on my way to pick up Ida and shell out money I don't really have. The walk pumped up my adrenalin and my thoughts gave me an extra bounce in my step. About half way through my walk as the rain was getting even worse, I did think about calling my sister in law to come pick me up, she had offered, but I kept going and again it was so much fun, I even sang out loud, starting with do, do, do, do, do...and before I knew it I was singing the whole song and splashing my feet in big puddles!

I'm telling you, try it! You will feel like a kid! No matter what problem you have, having that kid feeling inside you will make you feel like one, feeling like you could do anything, nothing to worry about. So as much as you check the weather for those sunny day, notice the rainy forecasts too, plan on taking that walk, a long one or a short one, just splash, sing, be a kid, you will feel so good!

Rain

Call me crazy, but I love a rainy day. I took some pictures outside my door in the sports mode setting to catch the rain falling. I love using sports mode, the pictures sometimes aren't as clear, again learning, learning, learning...but it's cool. Especially taking pictures of the kids, they always move, I use the sports mode most of the time when taking their pictures even when it's not one of their games.

Back to my love of a rainy day. Don't get me wrong, we've had too much, I know, dangerously too much in some areas. I don't like driving in it or being wet when I get to work or somewhere other than home. But I find some comfort in it. I'm sure part of it is wrapped up in memories of being young, all snuggled on the couch watching TV. That safe home feeling. Even now I love when it rains on a day I'm off and I can take a nap on the couch listening to the rain falling down. And of course part has to be from the movie "Singing In the Rain". If you know the song, haven't you at least once had Gene Kelly's voice in your head while walking in the rain? "Do do do do do....". And the GE commercial with the elephant dancing to "Singing in the Rain", tell me you didn't just love it! If you haven't seen it I've posted it below.



Go out in the rain and splash your feet in puddles, put your face up towards the sky and let the rain fall over all your face, catch it on your tongue, sing OUT LOUD or in your head, be a kid in the rain again!

Do, do, do, do, do, do....

You've Got Comments!

Did you ever see the movie "You've Got Mail"? One of my favorites. One of those movies that I'll watch again and again, the music and a sweet love story, besides the fact that Tom Hanks is an awesome actor. I have loved him since watching his TV show "Bosom Buddies" and continue to love everything he does. Doesn't he really seem like a nice guy? You know how you just get that feeling about someone, a total stranger, but you just kind of know? You know?!

So anyway, at the beginning of "You've Got Mail" there's a scene I especially love. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are strangers, sharing emails and both of them so looking forward to reading their mail, hearing their computers say "you've got mail". I love the song playing in the background too, "Dreams" by the Cranberries. These strangers then actually walk right by each other, such good friends in cyber space and living so close to each other in this small world of ours.

I wanted to tell you all, friends and strangers, how much it means to me that you read my blog, that many of you come back everyday to see what I have to say. I truly love sharing my stories. I hope you can feel the love in all of them, in my creative projects as well, and silly pranks, I hope I've put a smile on your face, made you chuckle. Those are some of my favorite gifts. Giving and getting!

I love when I sign on to my blog and see that someone has left me a comment. I've even said it out loud with a smile on my face and in my heart, "I've Got Comments!". Thank you is not enough, you give me confidence to keep going on! Like maybe, this is my thing? Who knows!? A wonderful new journey in my life.

Here's the scene from "You've Got Mail"! I hope you enjoy it and more understand how much you all taking the time to read my blog means to me. Thank you!!

Bella Luna

It's Fall, my most favorite season of all!

In New York we have a lot of clear, crisp beautiful days and crazy me looks half way normal walking around in my snugly sweaters, as opposed to me looking like a fruitcake in the summer with those sweaters!

I hope you caught the Harvest Full Moon just a week or so ago. I noticed it just before it was full, on September 10th. I was at a party in Long Island with family and the sky was so bright, it was beautiful. When I got home I went outside and looked up at the sky, it was so blue, like the blue of daytime, not the dark blue of night and the clouds were moving in a cool pattern. My sister had also attended the party and was staying overnight to break her ride from Long Island to upstate New York. I called her downstairs, away from her obsession of a new video game on her ipod and I could tell she was appeasing me walking down the stairs. She looked and said it was beautiful and walked back inside. As she was walking up the stairs I asked her if it was worth it? She said yes, but she wasn't seeing the same thing as me. I'm amazed by nature, when you really stop to think about it, it's little miracles going on all around us. Even in the city of New York and the streets of Brooklyn and Staten Island, not only upstate, where, yes, it is more beautiful because the city lights block some of our view, but they also add different colors to the sky that you wont see upstate. Even Jersey, the factories and the smoke rising up have made for some of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen. Okay, maybe not be the healthiest thing, but I can't say it isn't pretty to look at.
I hope I never grow tired of seeing a beautiful moon.

One night my cousin in Colorado and I planned on looking up at the "Pink Full Moon" on April 17th. So here we are so far away from each other but both of us were looking up in the night sky at the pink moon. Not an obvious pink, but a soft glow, kinda pinkish and it was like Sandra I standing side by side sharing the beautiful sky together and texting each other about what we both saw.

Again, I'm a novice photographer but I went out and took some pictures that night, I think I captured a few cool ones.



I love looking at the moon as it rises, especially the autumn moons, are they closer? They look different, the colors are amazing. The Hunters Full Moon is scheduled for October 11th at 10:06p.m., EDT. Mark your calendar! Even for the day before and after, depending on the weather you might get a better view on different nights. Get your kids out there, show them how amazing our world is, how much there is to see and learn, about so many things, show them the beauty right out your own front door, tell them how the moon follows them. I loved that as a kid.

Bella Luna.

I have said that every time I'm lucky enough to see one of those special moons. I got the line from the movie "Moonstruck". One of the character's calls it Cosmo's Moon. He wakes his wife to see it and you watch her look at husband in such a loving way watching his face glow by the light of the moon. And the "old man" who takes his pack of dogs to the park, shouting "bella luna", teaching his dogs how to howl at moon, laughing and just elated by a beautiful moon.

And the old beautiful New York City skyline...bella luna!

I Ain't Down Yet!

I can't let another blog go by without paying tribute to my favorite movie stars of all time, Debbie Reynolds. I'm sure those who know me wondered when this would come up. Well here it goes.

I obviously named my beloved pet Molly Brown after one of Debbie's most famous roles, Molly Brown in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". Her motto, no matter what trouble she faced, was "I Ain't Down Yet".

I grew up watching musicals with my mom, listening to her show tune records, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, so many more, I loved the music and the movies. I remember watching "White Christmas" with my mom and at the end of the movie the inn keeper is honored by his old army buddies with a song "We'll Follow the Old Man", I cry every time he enters the room and sees all the men that came to honor him. It's a beautiful moment, for what it means in the movie and because I shared that moment with my mom.

But Debbie Reynolds was my favorite. I loved so many of her movies, "Tammy and the Bachelor", "The Singing Nun" and of course "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". There was even a short time she had a TV Show, kind of like Lucy and Ethel in "I Love Lucy" always getting in trouble with her neighbor. She was funny, she could sing and dance and I dreamed of having the same kind of career. My first Broadway show was "Irene" starring Debbie Reynolds. I had no idea what Broadway was like or what it meant to the acting world but I was in awe from the moment the orchestra starting playing. It was magic, a place to escape from the real world and even if I couldn't have a career like hers, I would do anything, be in the chorus, work backstage, the whole world was one of wonder and fantasy to me. I even met Debbie 3 times in my life. Once after the show Irene, she came out in the lobby and autographed playbills for anyone who wanted and so many people did. I couldn't say a word, I was about 12 I guess, and I in total awe. The second time, not long after I waited by the stage door for her to arrive for her show and she invited me backstage. There were other people there and they were saying such nice things but again I couldn't say a word. Not like me at all! The third time I was in my mid 30s and she was playing in Atlantic City. As a kid I would write to her all the time, telling her how great she was and how I wanted to be just like her. I got to speak to her manager who actually remembered my name! I guess you could have called me an obsessed fan! But here was my chance to just thank her for sharing her wonderful talent and making people laugh, be happy, especially me. Well this time I did talk but I made absolutely no sense! I would start a sentence with one thought and end it with another, I was babbling! I think I made her a little dizzy. But my friend took this picture and I think you can tell how happy I am.



And my blog called "Molly Made Me Do It" is more than Molly just being my muse. I had suffered a terrible depression before having Molly in my life. Life really hit my family with "sucker punches" as my niece commented in one of my blogs. One after another, in a very short period of time. I lost hope and concentrated on what I lost instead of what I had. Naming Molly was as much for my love of Debbie Reynolds as it was for the real Molly Brown. The real Molly Brown was a fighter, she changed her life, she changed many peoples' lives. She was on the Titanic and kept the people on her life raft sane by pushing them to go on, to survive. My Molly did that for me. She was my hope. She kept me "up". I had to take care of her, and as much as I took care of her, she took care of me more. She gave me unconditional love. She was just happy to see me no matter what. I had to make sure she was fed and walked and loved, that was the easy part and I got so much in return. I wasn't down yet.

Even after losing Molly, I was beyond sad, and I still miss her very much, but she's inside me, the lessons I learned about what was important and what didn't matter. She changed me, maybe not to the same exact person I was before, but I'm a little stronger, I truly am happy because I try to look for the good in everyone and everything. I found a new me and a new outlook on life. I still have have bad days, I'm always struggling financially and even today my car wouldn't start and it was right after I took my niece to church! I just did a good thing! I can't say that I wasn't a little upset, but I didn't cry. I walked home and just decided to take it one minute at a time. I worked yesterday, it could have happened then, being stuck in New Jersey and not being able to walk home or having to bother someone to come and pick me up. It was in a safe place, close enough to walk home, in my little neighborhood town where I've made friends with most of the merchants, we know each other by name, I can ask them to look out for my car. All good things. I Ain't Down Yet.

I decided on my walk home to concentrate on the good in my life, and trust me I may not be rich, but I am blessed beyond most people's dreams. I have so many loving family members, friends, I have a job, it may drive me crazy, but I have a job! I have my health and worrying will just cause me to not feel good inside and out. I got home and started my blog. A good practice to get your mind off your worries is keeping busy. For me, keeping busy is doing my little art projects and writing this blog, but even cleaning your house, straightening up the closets, listening to music while you work, escaping into a great book, it all keeps you from being down. We can choose. We can choose to be in a bad mood or a good mood, to see the glass half fall or half empty. I'm a "cockeyed optimist". I learned a lot from having Molly in my life.

I walked back into town a couple of hours later and the car started up! I think I put good vibes out in the universe and they came back to me. I took it to the gas station and they won't be able to look at it until the morning but I'm hoping it's something that can be fixed (and not too expensive!) And the man at the gas station, well he wasn't exactly in the best mood, told me my car is probably falling apart. Then apologized, said he was having a bad day. I chose to ignore his opinion of my car and wished him a better day. Ida will be okay. Ida is what I named my car, one of my great grandmother's names, always thanking her for keeping me safe and getting me to where I've got to be! So far she's taken real good care of me so I'm throwing out my positive vibes that my Ida will come through for me...I Ain't Down Yet!

Below are some of my favorite Debbie Reynolds songs from her movies, the old preview when "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" was released, which includes her line "I Ain't Down Yet!" And though not Debbie Reynolds, but a great scene from her movie, "Singing in the Rain". Jean Hagen as "Lina Lamont" at a diction lesson...a classic line,

"And I can't stand him".

Most of these youtube links you will be able to open from my blog but a couple will say you need to go to YouTube. I hope you do, they are great clips, especially the line from Jean Hagen!









The clip below is Abba Dabba Honeymoon. I sang this song to all my nieces and nephews when they were babies, and I loved when they would sing it back to me, I hope they feel some little memory in their hearts if they ever by chance hear this song.



And I guess her most famous song is this one, Tammy.




Debbie Reynolds has had her own share of problems, stardom didn't give her an easy life. If you're too young to know, Debbie and her first husband Eddie Fisher were the classic Hollywood love story until he left her for Elizabeth Taylor, it's been compared to the Jennifer Anniston/Brad Pitt saga in the news today. Sad enough your marriage breaks up but everywhere you look your life is making headlines. Even her daughter, Carrie Fisher, a big star, a sex symbol from the "Star Wars" films, she's had her share of problems, now one of those is struggling to lose weight. Somehow these woman survived and keep on going. I may not have a career like Debbie Reynolds or even her daughter, who is also an accomplished writer, but they both ain't down yet and neither am I.

And as much as Debbie Reynolds has been an inspiration to me, there was none bigger than my mom, the biggest star in my life. She loved the simple things and appreciated them and taught us all that. She wasn't impressed by jewelry or expensive gifts, or having fancy clothes. I think her favorite thing was sharing a family dinner, with all those she loved enjoying a simple good meal together, sharing our days, our love.

She's one of those bright stars you see in the sky at night, shining down and showing me the way.

I Ain't Down Yet!