I arrived in the city on April 5, 2008, having bid a fond farewell to Texas. My landing was much softer than that of my ancestors who made their way here over 150 years ago. Paul had already set up a temporary apartment for us and had filled the fridge with water, soda, milk, butter,and cheese. Bread was on the counter and I had brought tortillas from Central Market in Austin. We were set for the weekend.
It was General Conference weekend which allowed us to watch church in our pajamas which is always a special event. Monday morning dawned, Paul ran in Central Park and I walked the neighborhood before the sun was up. Delivery trucks were arriving from all parts of the city and neighborhood stores were slowly awaking and beginning the process of preparing their goods for the day. Bagel shops, bakeries, diners, and retail shops surround us.
After cleaning up I ventured out to explore the upper east side. Nail shops and hair salons dot very block as do pet stores, shoes stores and delis. I walked about 30 blocks up 2nd Avenue and returned down 3rd Avenue. When you can navigate the stoplights and enter the street BEFORE the "walk" sign appears, then you could be viewed as a native.
It felt like any other large city that I had been in, but this was different, this was "home." The question tossing around in my head is, "how do I make this my town?"
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