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These LOs are about a great weekend we spent in NYC during the few years we lived in the suburbs. Our hotel room look right over the WTC site.

First, let me address the fact that on the right page, my DH is making funny expressions w/ the WTC site in the background; I lost my friend Cindy in the 9/11 attacks so I do not want to upset anyone by including those pics but here is the journaling for why I included them: “I had to include these pics of Greg making funny expressions here. We lost many lives & more in the 9/11 attack, & in the face of such destruction & loss, we all must strive for what is good & full of love & happiness. Cindy had such an amazing sense of humor, I know she would've approved of everyone taking a moment to find the lightness in the face of such tragedy; I know she would've been so happy that I found someone to support me & help me get through the rough times by taking a moment to be silly & have fun. I thought these photos captured something beautiful – Greg & I forging on in the wake of devastation, trying to find the lightness of life! No, we wouldn't make such faces outside at the site & appear disrespectful & inappropriate. But in the privacy of our room, & having paid our respects in our own way, we had to muster up some lightheartedness to forge on.”

It was important for me to make these LOs about the fun things we did that weekend, in addition to the impact of staying within the WTC site, because later that year, we decided to abandon our plans to move out of state. This weekend was a factor in that decision.

Selected journaling: “Late July '04 Greg & I took a mini-holiday from our Westchester home & spent a special weekend in New York City. We stayed at the Millennium Hilton overlooking the site of the former World Trade Center, where the landmark Twin Towers were attacked by terrorist planes & collapsed on 9/11/01. About 2,800 people lost their lives in the attack, including my dear friend Cindy. --- Our room was on the 20th floor. The view of what is referred to as “The Pit” was…tremendous. The vastness of the space. The memory of what was. I met my friend Ronda while temping at the WTC in ‘94. I enjoyed temping there again in ‘00. The towers comprised a complex of 7 buildings, along w/ 7 underground levels of services, shops & subway stations. It was a vibrant community, an enjoyable place to work & a comforting & grand highlight in our skyline. I was merely one of many people who had numerous fond memories of the WTC. 3 years later, I miss Cindy but am inspired by her memory everyday. The site debris had been cleared and preliminary groundwork had begun. One development was the restoration of the Path train to/from New Jersey; to see it running into The Pit was quite a sight. Having a hotel room w/ this perspective was emotional for both of us – we were awestruck.

Even w/ the somber view outside, the weekend was about us having a great time & treating ourselves. The hotel room was awesome. There was a tempting mini-bar, plasma TV & a plush bed, & a heated pool on the premises. Greg & I, to resist expensive mini-bar, stocked up on candy & snacks at Grand Central Terminal Rite-Aid, after our Metro North commuter train brought us into the city; the guy at the drugstore asked us if we were going to a game! I was having such a great time w/ my always fun spouse, just hanging out, talking, watching TV & NAPPING.

To celebrate my honey, I took him to the famous Peter Luger Steakhouse in Brooklyn for dinner. He loves steak dinners & I'm pretty fond of them myself! I wore Little Eggplant (the dress I bought last minute to wear to our families' 1st meetup in '03 after temporarily losing the intended dress that day) & as part of his outfit, Greg sported the dress sandals he wore to our Caribbean wedding! We thankfully sat in the quieter upstairs – had yummy vinaigrette salad, great Porterhouse steak for 2, medium (though Greg got some fat on his), their awesome sauce, & the chocolate mousse cake was heavenly w/ my Irish Coffee (the mango sorbet was nice but not that nice). Delectable, & I'm glad I could take my baby there!”

I had this LO planned before SHCG's twinscrapbee's 9/11-related LO Challenge, but that inspired me to get this done more quickly. I also wanted to do a random variation of color blocking on these pages.

TFL :)


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