As the Wind Picks Up

For Friday, November 18, 2011

After arriving in New York City, Emma and I take only a few minutes to hang up a few dresses in our hotel room’s closet before leaving for Times Square. Just a block away, we are there in seconds.

It’s my fourth trip to The Big Apple and Emma’s third. It’s amazing how quickly we acclimate ourselves despite being from Maine. As we duck into one store to another, the two of us smile and pose for one another as we snap pictures. Our cameras no doubt identify us as tourists but we are shameless in wanting to capture what we can in pictures we can turn to when we return home.

We stop for a quick appetizer dinner then return to the hotel to quickly change into dresses for The Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular show that evening. Making our way to Radio City Music Hall, we are practically skipping. The show is fun as always. On our way out we ditch our group and instinctively walk arm in arm back to Times Square.

This girl and I are good for one another. We giggle easily, laugh at the same silly things, see the same beauty, feel the same excitement...and I can’t help but realize that this is what we have been needing. Adventure. Joy. Serendipity. Silliness. Laughter. At times, it’s been a tough year for each of us, much too serious and stressful for a sixteen year old. Much too serious and stressful for a sixteen year old’s mom. But all that stress melts away as we take in the bright lights of Broadway.

We hold one another tighter as the wind picks up. This is what we must remember to do when we return home.