Last night seemed to go on forever.
Mama Dell and Nathan’s flight was delayed again and again. They were already getting in late and each delayed moved their arrival into the early hours of this morning. I rode the bus out to Laguardia with Elizabeth and while we were in transit we got a phone call from Nathan.
They had landed.
Landed in Baltimore.
Evidently flights were backed up coming into Laguardia and the pilot explained, as they were getting ready to land, that the plane didn’t have enough gas to continue in the holding pattern. The flight had detoured to Baltimore to refuel. It would be 30 minutes to refuel and another 30-45 minutes to land in NYC.
Elizabeth and I got this news just after midnight. Not fun…for them or us.
We had a mini-reunion around 2am and went outside to catch the M60 bus into Manhattan and head home.
Outside of a few pictures, the 2:30 visit to our apartment in Spanish Harlem was the first Mama Dell had seen of our home. We walked in to our slightly cooling apartment and she slowed considerably, taking everything in.
She stood in the kitchen for several minutes. She looked at the pots hanging down from the wall. She studied the framed photos on the wall. Eventually she moved into the living room and repeated the process of soaking in each corner of the room. She looked at my bedroom and Elizabeth’s. She was very, very quiet.
As they moved to the door, Mama Dell pulled me aside and said, “I love the apartment.”
Our home had her blessing.
I was very happy.
Nathan and Elizabeth took Mama Dell to her hotel and I hit the bed. I had dozed off and on at the airport but there was no place to really be comfortable. Having to be up so early to get up to P.S. 195, it had been a really long day. I was ready for bed.
We all woke up around 9:00 and started getting ready for the day. We showered dressed and headed out to gather Mama Dell and hit the town.
We stepped onto the sidewalk and were greeted by a crowd of 10,000 filling our streets. People were dancing, music was blaring, drinks were being consumed…a party of sorts was in full swing.
Spanish Harlem in general and our blocks specifically play host to an annual Puerto Rican festival. Who knew? This party will run all weekend. Good times.
We took the subway down to 51st and picked up Mama Dell and headed in the direction of Times Square and the Theater District. We passed through Rockefeller Plaza and along Radio City Music Hall. We walked down to Times Square and it was a lot of fun seeing Mama Dell taking it all in. The air was lit by hundreds of neon signs and the streets were teeming with people.
Elizabeth and I pointed out theaters and shows. We ate at John’s Pizzera – one of my favorite places. It is an old church building that has been converted into one of New York’s finest restaurants. There are four brick ovens baking the most delicious pizzas. We were on and off the subway all day and Elizabeth was a great navigator. Her mom mentioned noted several times that her daughter had beautifully picked up city commuting. We spent some time in Grand Central and again Mama Dell was a cute sponge for every sight and sound.
I’m sleepy and very ready to get in bed.
Tomorrow I’ll be going to church and taking in a couple of films from a Gay/Lesbian Film Festival that is running around the city. It is the end of the festival and I haven’t seen even half of what I had wanted. The best intentions…
