“I regret profoundly that I was not an American and not born in Greenwich Village. It might be dying, and there might be a lot of dirt in the air you breathe, but this is where it’s happening.” – John Lennon
The General Assembly is about to start at the United Nations and everybody who knows what all this entails will tell you to stay away from the city as far as possible. Or at least try to avoid 1st and 2nd Avenue along the UN Headquarter. Then again, a good friend of mine is in the city with her daughter and they had this idea of meeting in Central Park for a walk. I am in of course! 🙂 To get to the city from my house is approximately one hour drive which it was exactly up to the point of entering the traffic chaos as soon as you see the sign “Manhattan”. Anyway, we were on a mission to get to Central Park to walk along the avenues together. It was just my son initially because we were at the Plaza Hotel where we were supposed to all meet ahead of time
We took the stroller; however, my son is in this discovery mood these days and wants to walk and explore. I know my husband will lose his mind now reading this but I let him out of the stroller. He loved to look around and see what’s around the corner or in this and that store. We did not have to walk far to Central Park so it was okay. I smiled and let him wander the streets of Manhattan just being close by to protect him because I just cannot trust him at two years old to know when to stop and wait for me.
I think at some point it was too much for him. The yellow cabs passing us so fast and people left and right of us rushing by made him uncomfortable. He is not used to this kind of madness and he put his tiny hand up to take my hand. I take it and clasp tightly making his hand completely disappear in mine. To hold his hand makes me really happy. He needs protection and I am his mother to provide safety and shelter – if he only knew how much I love him. As we walk further I am thinking how fast time flies and I wish I could remember forever how awesome this time with him was when he was this age. So hold on tight my love.
I can see Central Park approaching and my son keeps pointing out dogs, birds (we saw birds close to Central Park but otherwise you really don’t in the city), cars and people. He is still holding on to my hand tightly and says “Croissant bitte” out of nowhere. So we stop in this little bakery to buy one. He is all over croissants these days. I try to make every day magical and special for him. Always including something that makes him happy. Playground, beach etc. but I must say that Manhattan so far is not really his thing. Still holding my hand which he usually never does for that long. My son is very enthusiastic and fearless unless we go to Stew Leonard’s and he sees the “cow”.
We still have some time so so my son and I sit down on a bench watching the ducks in the pond while he eats his croissant and I drink my coffee. I watch him eating as world buzzes by so quickly – honking, screaming fast fast fast. I love how our life is sort of free but still structured with this little routine that he loves. I realized as we sat there that it is all happening and is all coming true. We are a family and will be together again soon with new adventures and new stories to tell. I have always dreamt of a life like this. Full of craziness, spontaneity and excitement. My son looks at me and smiles while I wonder if there is a way to stop time just for one second to freeze this moment for a bit longer. I hope that he will remember these days and look back at them happily. He is done with his croissant, slips his hand back in mine and says “Go”. We walk back to the Plaza Hotel and my friend and her daughter arrived – smiling.
