Greetings from the other side of America. In the six days since
I arrived in New York, the weather has gone from 60 and rainy to 95
and humid.
Greetings from the other side of America. In the six days since I arrived in New York, the weather has gone from 60 and rainy to 95 and humid. My dog has finally forgotten the trauma of the long flight in what used to be his favorite kennel. Now that the sun has arrived, tomorrow I will go to the beach with my sisters and a slew of children eager and willing to splash around in the ocean. I need a little rest and relaxation, because I’ve been on autopilot since arriving in New York.
Earlier this week, I watched as my godchild Amy graduated from high school. Four hundred and eighty students received their diplomas in an hour and 10 minutes. This alone was impressive. However, even more impressive was the graduating class. Her high school in suburban New York is demographically very similar to our local high school. About one-fourth of the graduating class come from Spanish-speaking homes (in this case Puerto Rican families) and there is a large group of students whose families immigrated here from India, Pakistan, Haiti, Jamaica and China.
In the spirit of fairness to all of the students, the principal at her high school insists that the graduation ceremony be conducted entirely in English. New Yorkers are keenly aware that they are American, even if their English is heavily accented. At this commencement, no one from the faculty or school board got up to speak, but we did hear from four outstanding students. Like the majority of graduates at her school, these student speakers were college bound; two had received scholarships to Cornell, one to SUNY and one student had received a full scholarship to Rutgers University.
Many of Amy’s classmates are off to a number of Ivy League schools; one of her classmates, a former Gilroy resident, got accepted to Stanford but is opting to attend Boston College instead. Amy is looking forward to attending NYU in the fall, but is even more excited at the prospect of living in Greenwich Village.
Today I drove my mom, uncle, daughter, niece and nephew to Kennedy Airport for their flight to Ireland. Nothing makes you more appreciative of living in Gilroy than sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Grand Central Parkway for an hour. I will be worrying about Carly for the next 10 days, then making the return trip to JFK to pick her up. She will arrive back in New York just in time to see the fabulous fireworks display on the Hudson River.
My two younger kids are begging for another trip to Central Park. They will be going to a New York Mets game this week. I hope to hit at least one museum. We are all missing home, I especially miss my husband. But we are cherishing our short time here. I know that when we return to Gilroy that Bonfante Gardens will be just as we left it. My brother is flying back with us and the kids can’t wait to show him around our little town. The Garlic Festival is right around the corner, which means I have lots of volunteers to phone.
Like all good vacations, this one too must end. Until then, I am loading up on sunscreen and heading to the beach to relax with a good book. I have gone a week without California news, and I will have a lot of catching up to do when I return.
