Photo Stories: New York

It's no secret that I love looking through old photos. Each one tells such a vivid story of our little family of three and the photos often remind me of how much effort and love my parents put into raising me. We had many traditions that quickly became the woven fabrics of our family's story, one of which was annual trips to New York City. The trips are something that my parents started before I was born and we continued well into my adult years. One of my favorite memories is going to see Next to Normal with my dad about five years ago at Christmastime and getting fancy adult drinks beforehand.

Oftentimes, one of the highlights of the trip to NYC included a Broadway play. There's also the time we went to a small show at a comedy club where Wanda Sykes and Brad Garrett were part of the standup act and I somehow became part of the conversation with Wanda  (and certainly learned some new words).  After that experience, we mainly stuck to Broadway :)  Some of our favorites included Cats, Tommy, Rent, and The Music Man. My mom has seen Cats an insane number of times (maybe 17, I think?!), and I always loved the part where the cats came prancing down the aisles singing their songs.  I'll NEVER forget the time that we saw Tommy. The opening scene is a pitch black stage that lights up with insanely loud gunfire as Tommy's father commits a murder. I don't think I took my hands off of my ears for the entirety of the play! This song will always make me light up when it comes on the radio, though.

Outside of enjoying the plays themselves, I also developed an appreciation for the arts in general. We often went to plays and concerts, whether they were in NYC, DC, or even at the Children's Theater in Rehoboth and it's something that I always looked forward to. Other memories from our trips to NYC: The San Gennaro festival in Little Italy (in hindsight, the rides where the type that would most definitely not pass a safety code these days, but they were too fun to pass up!), many maaaaany trips to Central Park, and trying to spot rats in the subway - a seriously fun game for a kid!