new york, new york. part 2

back to new york. i did quite a bit of research online about families traveling to new york. one thing i kept reading; the value of the city pass, so, we grabbed a city pass. glad we did. we wanted to do the tourist new york "stuff'. the city pass gave us and even more so the kids a great opportunity to call the shots. a visit to the natural history museum was up next. the museum itself was extremely boring, we were already tired and it was a huge disappointment. the walk after our visit was great. 

we made planes to see world one observatory. this was not a disappointment at all. i really can't put into words how incredible this building and tour is. the tour itself is extremely interactive and user friendly. the view, well, it's something you just have to see for yourself. looking down on the footprints of the world trade centers this would be our next stop. 

Corey and I find it challenging to speak to our kids about 9/11. I can remember my mom recalling the day John F. Kennedy Jr. died, being let out of school early, walking home through her hometown of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. her mom standing in the living, room tv on, crying. I can remember watching the challenger space shuttle launch in Jan. 1986. sitting it Mrs. Sims 2nd grade class next to Billy Tucker and Summer Berry at Glendening Elementy in Groveport, Ohio. not quite understanding what had happened, just knowing it was something awful. to our children 9/11 must seem like these memories. why is it 9/11 seems to deserve more than these other events. does it? i'm not sure. to our children it will always be our memory. they will recall us telling our stories. they hear them so often they will be able to recite them once we are no longer able to. 

it's difficult to stand there. you feel as though you need to just 'be'.

i was days away from delivering our first child on Tuesday September 11th 2001. i remember a very real fear bring a child into this world. we had a check up with the ob on this day. it was a terrifying day. when we walked up to the memorial wall i noticed the single paper flower placed in the name Renee A. May and her unborn child. i knew this was no coincidence. to our children this will be a day we their parents talk about. to those who were present and experienced this day it will live inside our soul. it doesn't matter where you were, what you were doing, it will live inside our soul forever. 

trinity church was a must see for us. walking down broadway we grabbed lunch at george's diner. then we made our way into the cemetery. the girls and i lit candles for grandma, nana and vivian. we prayed and walked through this breathtaking place of worship and history. we made it to the courtyard where we struck up a conversation with a kind gentleman. he had clearly been crying. the last time he was here in new york was 9/11. he needed to just tell someone, anyone who would listen his story. we just happened to be those people. so we stood in the cemetery of trinity church listening to a complete stranger tell us about his life, his 9/11 day running throuh the streets we were now being tourist on. it was beautiful, we all just stopped, stood and listened. we all embraced in a hug and went about our day. it was good. 

it was tuesday, this ended up being my last day in new york with my family. it was an emotional day but also a great day. we spent the morning observing the city from the empire state building decks. tony discovered he didn't love being at the top of the empire state building as much as he loved seeing it from all the other buildings obeservation decks. I love this kid. this would be the only place i took my camera along on tuesday. we did a family shoot in central park with a now friend Chadi Mansi. we then made our way to the richard rogers theater to see Hamilton.

our trip was full, it was fun, it was exhausting, it was sad and beautiful. we were together and that is everything. that is what matters.