On the last day of our time in New York we drove into Flushing, Queens. This is the place I had longed to go back to for so long. My Grandma's old house. We spent so much time here when we were young. I loved my Grandma so much, may her memory be always a blessing, she was a classy old lady. She had perfectly curled hair, she wore silky tops, and big mother of pearl clip-on earrings. She always sat in the lounge chair waiting our arrival. She used to show me all her jewelry and her fancy hair pins and she always gave me something to take home; a set of ruby earrings, a collection of beautiful cameo pins, or old coins.
I was a picky eater when I was a kid (still am), for some reason I really liked croutons, all on their own. Grandma had a big class container she kept fully stocked with croutons and I would eat them by the bowl full. For dinner we always walked down the street to the Seafood diner. They had the best french toast I ever had, and home fries. There was a florist nearby with what felt like a ceiling to floor flower selection. That was one thing I always loved about New York, the flowers. Around here we don't have flowers like that, you go to a florist to get roses and that's usually all they have, but in New york there's flowers for sale everywhere. I remember a nail salon too, my mom and I would walk over there and get mani/pedi's with little flower designs. She would take us on walks around the neighborhood, showing us where she went to high school and college. All the parks had big sprinklers in them that ran during the summertime, there wasn't any room for pools. I remember the old world fair grounds and the queens museum. I remember the bagel place, the pizza place and the big cemetery down the street.
I think this place always represented another time in my life, a time before responsibilities, before things got big and scary, before things got messy at home. It was a place I felt at home, safe and secure and more normal than I can ever remember feeling at any other time in my life. This was the first time I've been back since my grandma passed away over a decade ago. The buildings were all pretty much the same, although the businesses they house are all different now. I don't quite know what the words are for it, and maybe it's just because I'm the most sentimental person on the planet, but there's some kind of heart heavy and happy feelings when you go back to the places of your childhood. It was very special and I'm grateful that I finally made the pilgrimage.
Have a beautiful day
MacK Mars
