Thursday, November 7, 2013

Things I’ve Done


Emuse challenged us to come up with things we've done in life that very few others have (probably) done.   It took me a while but this is what I came up with:


Sat on Walt Disney's lap
My maternal grandfather was a barber in a ritzy hotel in New York City.  Apparently Mr. Disney came in while I was visiting and I got to sit on his lap while he got his hair cut.  I have no memory of this but my mother always listed it as a highlight of my life.


Chatted with Woody Allen
Whenever I went to a Broadway musical I would wander up to Colony Records (a once famous, but now closed, record store in Times Square)  after the show to buy the soundtrack.   Once as I was picking out my selection Woody Allen asked me how I had enjoyed the show.   We had a brief conversation of which I remember only snippets, but I do remember he made me laugh.


The Brooklyn Bridge
I have used every mode of transportation under, on and over the Brooklyn Bridge - a subway and a boat underneath, I have driven over the lower level, walked and ridden a bicycle across the upper level, and I have flown over it.   This is probably not all that unique for New Yorkers, but I still think it is pretty cool that there are so many ways to cross this, my favorite of all bridges.


Riding in police car
When Martha was still a cop, she drove an unmarked police car.  When I rode with her, if I saw a driver do something irritating (speeding, cutting someone off, etc)  she would let me pull the flashing red light out from under the dash and she would pull them over.  I can’t tell you how satisfying that was. When she retired I begged her for that red light.  But apparently . . . no.


Didn’t let them win
It took me years and years of therapy and hard work to get a grip on trauma and to begin to process the violence and cruelty and humiliation of rape.  I know that there are lots of people who have conquered their traumas a lot faster and dealt with their PTSD a lot better than I.    And I know that it will be a lifetime of work to stay on top of it.  Still, to have reached this place of confidence and acceptance and strength - it is probably the thing I am most proud of.  

5 comments:

  1. Once, as a tourist, I took the Circle Line around Manhattan. I still remember the awe I felt, both at the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. They literally took my breath away.

    Proud seems like such a small word for what you've accomplished overcoming trauma. I am relieved that there are only a few people who have experienced what you did, but I am sure you serve as an inspiration to many of them. You are certainly an inspiration to me!

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  2. I love the family-lore stories (hardly remembered) but oh, so full of impact. :-)

    Well done.

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  3. These are all so cool!

    Sue is right - you are an inspiration to many.

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  4. Great list! Love that it encompasses so many time periods in your life - including the present!

    xoxoxo

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  5. I lived in NYC for a few years and never once crossed the Brooklyn Bridge although I worked on Fulton and could see it from my office. I'm sorry to read Colony Records closed. Another victim of the digital age I suppose. This was a fun list and congratulations on not letting them win. That is quite the accomplishment. You should be proud.

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