Going back to the scene of the crime, well not a crime at all, but the place where we both grew up. I haven't been back to NYC in about 3 years. The last time I was there was for work, when I was working for The Home Depot. The Last time Eric and I were there was maybe 5 years ago. New York has always been a special place in our hearts. We both grew up there. Eric in St. Albans, Queens and me, on Long Island. I eventually moved to Queens and Eric was in the Bronx. We met while living in the Burroughs, the outer Burroughs as New Yorkers who live in Manhattan would say.
Even when we moved to Atlanta, NYC tugged at us. We would visit regularly to see friends and family; sampling the newest restaurants and jazz clubs. We'd always stayed uptown, Harlem, and I went back to do the same and planned on spreading some of his ashes at Convent Gardens, where we took our wedding photos, but never got a chance to do that.
I could not wait to see the friends who have been such a special presence in our lives. We love New York, even though we left it 16 years ago. It's a city that has always and will always be a part of us. To this day people ask where I'm from, because they can hear the accent. It's not as strong as it was, but it's still there, people can hear it.
I stayed with friends who were amazing. They were telling me stories of how Eric would sit on their sofa and talk about me. How Eric was deciding to move ahead with a relationship with me or his ex. I have to say, I'm glad we ended up together. I was told Eric was praying for someone to grow with and that was me. It was great to be back in Harlem, walking to stores and restaurants . I was also able to see my friend Kim, who I met by doing YouTube videos. We had lunch at Ashford and Simpsons SugarBar. Ironically that was one of the place we had our first date. We stopped there after we saw the movie "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind".
Sunday evening I had a group dinner with our closest friends. Friends that I had made through Eric and have been friends for 15+ years. We wend to Hudson Yards, which was beautifully decorated for the holidays. I have to say when I was staying with friends, I did tell them that coming to NYC would be a trigger for me. The expected that and was very supportive, especially when I was crying Sunday morning thinking about the great times we had there; the dates, the VGJazz events, our Coop apartment, our wedding and the love. But it was so good to be there and see everyone and be back in the city where it all started.
