I have a lot of catching up to do. So I'll start with friends, old friends.
This is a photo from my NY trip!
This was taken at Bridges Bar and Grill.
Me, Lillie Roman and Ida Issacs.
First, let me say god bless the hostess with the mostest - Lillie!
Originally, I was supposed to stay with my friend Ivet, but she was ill and was not able to "host" me.
Lillie stepped in and said I could stay with her, thank goodness, because I didn't have too many friends still in the Bronx and all my family is now scattered!
When I arrived Marie picked me up from Newark airport and I stayed with her until Monday. We spent the afternoon at Arthur Avenue (little Italy in the Bronx) and then she dropped me off at Lillies', and Alexandras', her 25 year old going to Fordham U.
Lillie lives in Throggs Neck and the express bus into the city is a couple of blocks away, lucky me! Definitely wanted to do the express bus because the weather was as expected, hot and MUGGY!!!!!
She was so great, fed me a couple of times, had great wi-fi and a nice spare bedroom. She was such a big help because honestly, I had to learn the lay of the land; been a long time!
Back in the old days, we had cash and tokens. Now everything is a Metro card. Also, the express bus was not part of the city transportation and the hours of operation were limited to rush hours. The night I had dinner in the city with Melanie and Celia I didn't get on the express bus until midnight! Used to be if you stayed in the city and you didn't want to chance the subway, you had to take a cab.
Gone are those days!
Ida is married to a buddy of mine, Robert. They have been married for about 38 years! I went to their wedding.
A few people heard I was going to be in town and going to the Bronx reunion and they made it a point to come down (Robert and Ida live out in the country, not too far from Marie).
I was so excited to see them!
I was so excited to see many people from the old crowd!
On Saturday evening, after the picnic in the park (part of our reunion) Marie came down and picked me up, but not without surprising me by taking me to City Island for seafood!
Soooo many years since I'd been there!
God bless buddy Marie for waking up with me at 4am to take me to the Newark airport to catch a 7:10am flight!
I am sooo blessed to have so many great friends!
FYI-I am not going to wait another 20+ years to see friends again. When I got home I told Pete I'm going back every other year!
To see old friends and to see my nephews and their families. I need to know those kids and they need to know me!
