Dear Reader:

This was my gift to myself from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wanted a memento to remember Christmas in NYC in 2015. I, also, wanted to remember the quiet places that we found throughout the weekend…starting with the 9/11 Memorial Museum. It was my first time going…

Brooke had ordered tickets for us earlier but still there was a long line to get in. However, it was a beautiful day and everyone was in great spirits so the wait turned out to be relatively short.

On the way to the museum Henry got down on his knees to take this picture of Brooke and me (shooting upward) in front of the World Trade Center. Great job Henry!

Before getting to the museum we went through the park area and there I saw “my” Survivor Tree. I felt like weeping with relief and joy….it was so beautiful with golden leaves…it looked like it had grown ten to fifteen feet taller since seeing it in the fall two years ago. It is definitely the most beautiful tree surrounding the museum now.

The only indicator that it was the Survivor Tree from 9/11 was the steel fence around it…we didn’t know where the plaque had gone that once identified it….none-the-less we recognized it instantly. I made the mistake of touching it and one of the park rangers shook her head at me. But she was nice about it and just being able to bond with the tree for a moment…to feel it…was all I needed for renewed strength. Sometimes we just have to return to nature for healing.

I could show lots of photos I took from the Memorial Museum but I have decided not to….Instead to just choose a few poignant ones to set the feel, the mood for this museum on sacred ground.

The first comes from a quote from Virgil that is spread across tiles of different colors of blue because the day the Twin Towers were hit…it was a beautiful blue-sky day. Survivors all described the shade of blue differently and today we know that we, as individuals, see colors differently according to our own unique color vision.

So the different shades of blue tiles represent each unidentified victim who died that day.

The wall, one of the most deeply personal aspects of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, separates the public area from a repository of nearly 8,000 unidentified human remains. Inscribed on it, visitors will read a line from Virgil’s “Aeneid”:

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

I love that quote….no matter how long or briefly we stay on this earth within our own life journey…our presence is felt as part of the family connection of the universe. We existed, we lived, and we were loved.

The quiet and reverence settled in the farther we went and soon even whispers disappeared. The only sounds came from the videos of live reports going out that tragic day and testimonials of survivors.

At one point I found a bench and just sat down to watch the people and their reactions to different artifacts along the tour. It was then that I noticed there were no crying babies. Three young mothers passed me and in each case the baby was asleep or simply looking around wide-eyed…but not one single cry was heard. It was as if they too sensed that they were on hallowed ground.

And then I spotted this elderly couple….the husband’s reaction to one of the mangled firetrucks (ladders twisted and turned like paper mache) brought his wife to his side to comfort him. (Later discovered he was a fireman all his life from a small town in Oregon)

It took us much longer to complete the tour than we had anticipated so we grabbed some lunch and quickly went to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. By then we were quite weary…more emotionally probably than physically…but it transferred over to the physical and we were starting to feel like zombies.

It was terribly crowded…I just picked up my memoir (Christmas tree trinket) and looked around…but too tired to do the museum justice…so we headed back to get ready for supper at Henry’s and Lacy’s apartment….steak and potatoes….just perfect! Here are some views of their adorable place.

Then we were off to the big ticket event on our itinerary…The Rockettes! The only problem was all the streets getting to Radio City Hall were in a gridlock and several were closed off. Henry jumped out of the taxi and took off to the ticket counter to make sure we could get in if running late (we could)….we hung in the taxi a few more minutes and finally the taxi driver told us we needed to walk it…he was stuck and the road ahead closed.

Brooke had worn her high heel boots thinking we wouldn’t do any walking….but you would be so proud of her…she not only walked…she ran…she was not going to miss The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Hall. See her go! Her boots were made for running! (I snagged his photo while trying to keep up with Brooke and Lacy…Brooke was hoofing it down the sidewalk…see her in the red coat.) The next day she couldn’t even bend her toes….she told me to hum Taps because she never wanted to see those boots again!

The Rockettes at Radio City Hall were spectacular! I didn’t realize it was so family-oriented and child-friendly… items on the program, like a little girl with big furry animals dancing to the Nutcracker…scenes of Santa….All I could think of…was that Eva Cate and Rutledge would have loved the program…ending with snow falling on everyone. A big check off my personal life list.

Sunday morning would consist of leisurely strolls by parks and neighborhoods, service at Henry’s and Lacy’s church (Calvary-St. George’s) a wonderful brunch, and then we would retire back to the apartment to rest up for the final event…The Holiday Light bus tour. Sunday’s agenda is coming up tomorrow, along with some overall memorable moments and observations. *And one big mis-adventure on the trip back to the airport….”Oh my my my.”

So until tomorrow Let us count our blessings God bestows on us every single day of our life here on earth.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Monday night I was so tired I plopped down on the sofa and promptly feel asleep….dragging myself to my bed sometime after midnight. Yesterday morning I checked on all my plants and took some photos also in the house…including one of my sweet, sweet, Gingi. She came and took me to breakfast at Toast and we exchanged a little Christmas between us…the real gift was time spent together.

• This is a leaf Henry picked up that fell from the Survivor Tree and gave me…it has already turned from golden to brown…but the significance of this leaf will remain in my heart forever. 
• Yesterday I received this adorable card from Tommy, Kaitlyn, Rudy, Atticus, and Pip.

…And another “sign” that the elephants coming to the stable is the right Christmas story for this year. This was a note that my niece Catherine sent me and I about fell over when I saw the design….”The elephants are coming…the elephants are coming…this Christmas!”

*Today the double-digits turn to single digits….9 days before Christmas….it is either a Ho Ho Ho moment or a Oh NO! NO! NO!

All my lights are finally up…Come on Christmas….the Boo is ready!