19 Feb In the end
In the end.
Everything starts and everything ends. That is the circle of life and my holiday wasn’t different.
What started with doubts and questions turned into the best trip I have ever taken.
What started with me worrying about things ended with me looking back and smiling.
And what started with me managing and sailing thru empty conversations ended up with me gaining more than a friend.
As I sat this morning at Friedmans enjoying my breakfast, sitting there by the window, people rushing by, enjoying my eggs and sausage and listening to jazz I got struck by a thought.
New York is actually the first city I feel bad when leaving.
Don’t get me wrong. Even though I travel a lot I must confess that I do miss my family and friends. This being the reason why I never looked for jobs outside my country.
I have so many good things going for me that it is impossible for me to even contemplate leaving.
But New York was different. I actually felt sorry that I had to leave. I felt that there were so many more things to do, peoples to see, theatres to go to, beautiful days to spend gazing at the nature, good foods to be eaten.
Usually when a trip is finished I already start planning for the next one.
But this time is different.
This time I want to stop planning for some time and enjoy my memories. And this time I want to start taking better care of me.
This trip brought everything: a reunion with a friend I haven’t seen in over 28 years, my first opera play, my first NBA and NHL games and also my first Broadway play.
And it brought Jerry Seinfeld too.
And at this moment i must make a confession. Jerry’s show was the main reason I ended up in New York. I was looking between Tokyo and New York and wasn’t decided.
Yes, the plays, the games were all there but the price was almost double too.
Then, by pure luck and I mean pure luck I saw an ad for Jerry’s show. And the rest is history.
What I experienced here I tried to put in words and even if most of the time I have my way with words on this occasion I feel that I could have said more. Or less.
You cannot really explain how pleasant it is to have people talk to you, help you, guide you. You cannot explain how it feels to see something you wished for your entire life.
You cannot explain how amazing you felt after seeing the amazing “A Bronx Tale” or how surprised you were when you found out that you enjoyed Turandot.
Life is filled with surprises. Some good, some bad.
During my stay a terrorist attack ended 8 lives and hurt 11 people a few miles from me.
This trip started as a simple to see/do holiday but it ended with me smiling and thinking ahead.
It started with me clearing up the mess I made during the last months and it started with me losing a couple of persona over gaining a friend.
And I guess that’s a perfect exchange.
Yes I could have seen more, drank more, ate more but I’m happy with what I got from this trip and I guess this is what really matters the most.
New York cannot be seen in one week or even two.
All you can do is catch a glimpse of it before going back to your home.
This was the first time I thought “would I move here?” But I guess I already know the answer.
No matter where I go and no matter what I see, I will always miss home.
Is New York Great? Oh yes it is!
Is it an amazing place? Definetly!
Greatest city in the world? Could be. Really could be.
But for me home is Bucharest and I guess that is the greatest city in the world.
Would I go back again? Oh you can count on that. Even as I’m writing these lines I know it for sure I will return some day.
I guess life puts us in special places in the right times.
Sometimes you don’t understand why just like I didn’t understand the events of this summer but sometimes you cannot help but feeling that time, that time was special and it came at the perfect moment.
Frankly I do not know what the future brings.
And I don’t think I want to find out even if I could.
New York will always mean more than the beautiful Central Park or the view of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge.
It will mean a new start. It will mean letting go and at the same time keeping on to new things or people.
Not everybody needs to go somewhere and discover things about himself. But sometimes it happens.
You can find things about yourself eating dinner at the same table you ate for years and you can miss “enlightenment” even if you’re in Tibet.
Things don’t happen always because you plan for them.
In the end all I can say is this “Thank you New York! I love you”