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"Return to New York": Part Eight
8 years ago
(My apologies for the delay, following the posting of my journal "Return to New York" Part Seven - http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8325704/ - due, in part, to personal computer problems [and resorting to using a tablet] and "Hurricane Irma". I hope to finish up this entire series - and post additional 'photo-ops' pertaining to my trip to Long Island and the 'Big Apple' - before the end of this month.)
It was a 200-foot stroll from the gazebo (where my niece Corynne and her newlywed groom Hector tied the knot), to The Reef - an East Rockaway (New York) seafood restaurant - where a catered reception took place.
There, I not only got to meet members of the groom's family for the first time, I was reunited with relatives and friends I haven't seen for years...
Among those I was glad to see again was my cousin - on my mother's side - Sheryl (who also used to live in Wantagh, one block away from my sister's home, before she got divorced and had to relocate elsewhere in Nassau County). Sheryl and Rhonda both have jobs at C.W. Post College (Long Island University), so I could easily communicate with them via E-mail at their respective workplaces.
Another cousin - this time on my father's side - was Steven, a medical doctor who I haven't seen since the 1980s. He was the only one of three siblings (Dean and Darryl were the other two) who could make it to the wedding and reception. Even their mother - my Aunt Sita - was unable to attend, partially owing to her age (the late eighties). But I can still recall our family sharing the same two-story tenement house in Ozone Park, NY with their family (back in the early 1960s). Believe it or not, Sita still lived there until two years ago, when she moved into a retirement home, in another section of Queens. (Steven still lives in New York, himself, while Dean resides in central California, and Darryl has a place along the Gulf Coast of Florida.)
And, of all the friends I was so happy to see again, I was ecstatic to see Elizabeth Chew (a major airline flight attendant from San Rafael, California). She had been Rhonda's friend for well over forty years, and she'd played a pivotal role in my life back in the late 1980s, when I was planning to attend a National Puzzlers' League convention in Berkeley, California. Elizabeth allowed me to stay in her place for the first half of my trip out west, and she even gave me a grand tour of San Francisco (which included Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, and Lombard Street [the world's most crooked steep road on Earth]). We even saw (and participated in) a TV-movie, being shot at Ghirardelli Square (where Elizabeth took my picture with actor Dick Van Patten - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2140369/ - while getting his autograph).
I was so glad to see all of these people (along with cousins David and Lisa), I completely overlooked the fact that I couldn't eat most of the reception food - mainly shellfish (clams, oysters, shrimp, etc.) - as I didn't want to have another angina attack (like the one I'd endured back in 2001, after downing a whole bunch of coconut shrimp and Coca-Cola, and forcing myself to go 'cold turkey' on both the food and drink). I was just barely able to down a piece or two of fried chicken, but I mostly consumed wedding cake, ice cream, and water (without getting sick).
The reception was held inside and outside of The Reef, with a live band performing on an outdoor stage (and most of the wedding party forming a conga line). On the (air-conditioned) inside, Erica's 'balloon display' on one side of the room got everyone's attention, as envelopes with cash gifts for the newlywed couple were deposited. (See "Return to New York": Part Six - http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8316848 ) On the other side of the room, a big screen HDTV was displaying pictures from the photo albums of both the bride and groom. Naturally, I'd recognized most of the pictures of Corynne (with her family [the Pereiras], my family [the Martinezs], and various friends). And I was equally impressed by the snapshots of Hector's life story (from infancy to adulthood).
Later on, most of us returned to Corynne's home, where we hung around for a few more hours. A number of folding chairs were placed in a circle on the front lawn, as we each began to recollect moments from our individual histories with one another...
For some unexplainable reason, I seemed out of place. My own life story (involving my interests in 'furry fandom', animation, stand-up comedy, etc.) held very little attention to most of the wedding guests.
Then, Rhonda introduced me to a young man, who is the (thirty-something) son of one guests; His name was Tyler. He told me about his comic book collection, and I began to tell him about my own personal collection. Then, the subject changed to 'Japanese animation', and again we'd regaled each other with tales of feature-length cartoons from the Far East we'd both seen. Our conversation continued for nearly a full hour, and I was feeling much better about that evening, before returning to Rhonda's home in Wantagh (and sleeping, once again, on that air mattress, while brother Glenn had access to the living room couch)...
Mind you, this rare moment (of finally finding someone who shares some of my personal interests) will not erase the incidents at the hibachi restaurant (over 24 hours ago), the wedding, or the reception (including running out to the parking lot to vomit once - when one piece of chicken didn't agree with me). But it was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Tyler and I exchanged E-mail addresses, in the hope that we'll continue to communicate with one another in the near future...
(To be continued...)
- - - - - - - - - - It was a 200-foot stroll from the gazebo (where my niece Corynne and her newlywed groom Hector tied the knot), to The Reef - an East Rockaway (New York) seafood restaurant - where a catered reception took place.
There, I not only got to meet members of the groom's family for the first time, I was reunited with relatives and friends I haven't seen for years...
Among those I was glad to see again was my cousin - on my mother's side - Sheryl (who also used to live in Wantagh, one block away from my sister's home, before she got divorced and had to relocate elsewhere in Nassau County). Sheryl and Rhonda both have jobs at C.W. Post College (Long Island University), so I could easily communicate with them via E-mail at their respective workplaces.
Another cousin - this time on my father's side - was Steven, a medical doctor who I haven't seen since the 1980s. He was the only one of three siblings (Dean and Darryl were the other two) who could make it to the wedding and reception. Even their mother - my Aunt Sita - was unable to attend, partially owing to her age (the late eighties). But I can still recall our family sharing the same two-story tenement house in Ozone Park, NY with their family (back in the early 1960s). Believe it or not, Sita still lived there until two years ago, when she moved into a retirement home, in another section of Queens. (Steven still lives in New York, himself, while Dean resides in central California, and Darryl has a place along the Gulf Coast of Florida.)
And, of all the friends I was so happy to see again, I was ecstatic to see Elizabeth Chew (a major airline flight attendant from San Rafael, California). She had been Rhonda's friend for well over forty years, and she'd played a pivotal role in my life back in the late 1980s, when I was planning to attend a National Puzzlers' League convention in Berkeley, California. Elizabeth allowed me to stay in her place for the first half of my trip out west, and she even gave me a grand tour of San Francisco (which included Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, and Lombard Street [the world's most crooked steep road on Earth]). We even saw (and participated in) a TV-movie, being shot at Ghirardelli Square (where Elizabeth took my picture with actor Dick Van Patten - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2140369/ - while getting his autograph).
I was so glad to see all of these people (along with cousins David and Lisa), I completely overlooked the fact that I couldn't eat most of the reception food - mainly shellfish (clams, oysters, shrimp, etc.) - as I didn't want to have another angina attack (like the one I'd endured back in 2001, after downing a whole bunch of coconut shrimp and Coca-Cola, and forcing myself to go 'cold turkey' on both the food and drink). I was just barely able to down a piece or two of fried chicken, but I mostly consumed wedding cake, ice cream, and water (without getting sick).
The reception was held inside and outside of The Reef, with a live band performing on an outdoor stage (and most of the wedding party forming a conga line). On the (air-conditioned) inside, Erica's 'balloon display' on one side of the room got everyone's attention, as envelopes with cash gifts for the newlywed couple were deposited. (See "Return to New York": Part Six - http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8316848 ) On the other side of the room, a big screen HDTV was displaying pictures from the photo albums of both the bride and groom. Naturally, I'd recognized most of the pictures of Corynne (with her family [the Pereiras], my family [the Martinezs], and various friends). And I was equally impressed by the snapshots of Hector's life story (from infancy to adulthood).
Later on, most of us returned to Corynne's home, where we hung around for a few more hours. A number of folding chairs were placed in a circle on the front lawn, as we each began to recollect moments from our individual histories with one another...
For some unexplainable reason, I seemed out of place. My own life story (involving my interests in 'furry fandom', animation, stand-up comedy, etc.) held very little attention to most of the wedding guests.
Then, Rhonda introduced me to a young man, who is the (thirty-something) son of one guests; His name was Tyler. He told me about his comic book collection, and I began to tell him about my own personal collection. Then, the subject changed to 'Japanese animation', and again we'd regaled each other with tales of feature-length cartoons from the Far East we'd both seen. Our conversation continued for nearly a full hour, and I was feeling much better about that evening, before returning to Rhonda's home in Wantagh (and sleeping, once again, on that air mattress, while brother Glenn had access to the living room couch)...
Mind you, this rare moment (of finally finding someone who shares some of my personal interests) will not erase the incidents at the hibachi restaurant (over 24 hours ago), the wedding, or the reception (including running out to the parking lot to vomit once - when one piece of chicken didn't agree with me). But it was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Tyler and I exchanged E-mail addresses, in the hope that we'll continue to communicate with one another in the near future...
(To be continued...)
