Back to the Big Apple

“Start spreading the news.

I’m leaving today.

I want to be a part of it

New York, New York ….”

OK, so I’m not leaving today, more like 10 days from today. But if all goes as planned, I will soon be getting on that big jet plane, flying to my family in PA and then hopping on the train to Penn Station. I’ve got a room at the Washington Square Hotel where Hemingway once stayed.

I’ve been set for this trip for months, and yet I’ve been convinced that the very reason for it would ultimately be canceled. The invite to read at the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village came in March, but even as the date grew close, there was no mention of my reading on the website schedule. I told myself either way, it would be OK. This is, after all, New York.

The trip comes with all kinds of emotions, excitement, a bit of nerves, wonder … but I’m also having a terrific time tripping down memory lane.

It was 1988.