connecting dots

sometimes you have to step back to realize how unique an experience is, as you can become so submerged in it, or don't give it a second thought, until you are holding it up in contrast to something else. Every one of my connections here in my adopted home have manifested themselves from a single moment or action and has turned into extraordinary journeys that will remain with me for a lifetime..

the friend I met for the first time riding the subway years ago as she was peering over my shoulder and was interested in the book I was reading which happened to be by and about Polly Adler..anyone who is familiar with old New York will know who she is..

with said friend, got into a choir concert for free this past Friday and was given a Hanukkah present even though I'm not Jewish ( she is), of hand stitched scented satchels made out of tablecloths and pillowcases from the 1930's. They are sitting on my dresser in the blue and white bag she put them in.

the neighbor in my apartment house, who has lived in said apartment with her now deceased husband for over 30 years and he in turn grew up in since his parents moved there in 1928, the father's name still written on the door and the old telephone wiring from the 1930's that still runs along the baseboards ( I discovered that when she wanted me to help her program a new answering machine and got distracted when I realized what the strange painted cord was)..

said neighbor giving without me asking, the schoolbook of a deceased neighbor who had been 100 years old when she passed, brittle and fraying at the seams in a old zip lock bag and containing an almost 90 year old mail in coupon for makeup rouge..


pursuing the ledger book of the man with the broken nose and fedora who opened a whole array of connections with a group of talented people whose insight and encouragement I am profoundly grateful for, this journey is still in production...

and today, having coffee and cake with a new friend and gaining invaluable insight.. :)