New York Class Reunion

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Lets Go METS!

 New York, New York!!! My home town, my reunion, my friends…my memories!

The first impression of New York for many people is all concrete and tall buildings, along with lots of crime. Yes, Manhattan is full of all of that, but have you ever been out to Long Island? Or Upstate NY? If you haven’t, you really don’t ‘know’ NY at all.

Sheryl and Kathie

Diane and Billy

towards the end of the night

CLEM!!! xxooxx

Thursday July 26, 2012 I headed to NY for my 30th High School reunion. It was so much more than I could have ever expected it to be. It was one of the best WEEKS of my life. I actually cried on the plane in LGA as we pulled away from the terminal to head back home.

I became filled with emotion from when I was 18 and all the people I used to see. I made several new friends whom I knew but did not ‘hang out’ with in school. Thanks to Facebook, the re-connections that were made are easily continued.

The first stop off the plane was my older sister, Cindy’s, house. She lives in Centereach Long Island. It’s on the North fork of Long Island. The island itself is approximately 120 miles long, 30 miles wide at its widest point, and splits into 2 ‘forks’ on the Eastern end. The North fork is the polar opposite of the South fork.

Growing up, there was a continued rival between the North shore residents and the South shore residents. It was not adversarial but the North shore people were more hoity toddy and showy and loved to brag about living on the north shore. The south shore people were more middle class and extremely down to earth. Both reside on the water and there are beaches for miles along with some of the best clams and muscles you will ever eat!

Louie and Lisa

Tom and Deb

Once out on the North fork, it offers tons of wineries and Orient Point. Beautiful, beautiful rocky beaches. All home grown, organic farms, small towns, and just overall genuinely nice, nice people.  The South fork has the Hampton’s, Montauk Point, and a couple of wineries. The Hampton’s are known for the rich and famous and they are plentiful. It also has clubs and bars that are for the all out impressive crowds. Montauk Point is the very tip of Long Island and houses the famous Montauk Point Lighthouse. This is where fishermen from years past would come and sell their bounties. This is where Long Island started. Either fork is so incredibly beautiful that you would never want to leave. (Except in the winter).

Karen and Matt

Cindy, as usual, cooked for me, which is always incredibly awesome. She makes the best meals and can take a fridge full of leftovers and transform them into gourmet. I ate extremely well there.


Friday night was the first night of the reunion. It was held at Captain Bill’s. It is a restaurant located in Bayshore and sits on the Great South Bay. Very nice place, excellent seafood. We took over the bar area and it was packed. At first I did not recognize a lot of people but after a few moments it turned into such a wonderful, fun, happy time for so many people. Several of us girls hung out in the ladies room (like old school days), because it was so crowded at the bar and was cooler in the bathrooms. (See one of the pictures). Lol

The night ended with so many people re-connecting and laughing, and telling old stories, and looking forward to the ‘real’ reunion the next night.

Saturday morning came early and we took a ride out to Calverton Cemetery. We visited my dad even though it was pouring down rain. We didn’t stay long but did leave behind yellow roses, his favorite.

lunch at a winery

Saturday evening was day 2 of the reunion and it was held at Farrell’s Bar and Grill in West Islip. It was even more fun than Friday. Friday there was an excess of wine being poured, Saturday not so much! Again it was shoulder to shoulder people and thank God they had an outside patio. At first it was only for the smokers, but eventually that too became overrun with West Babylon Senior High School students laughing and drinking and taking pictures. It was the best time, ever! I spent time talking to girls that I didn’t spend much time with in HS and wished that I did. I talked to guys that were, what I thought at the time, was so far out of my league, which turned out to be just as cool as me! LOL. I am so incredibly glad that I went. So glad!

Sunday came around and Cindy and John had to take Christopher, my nephew, out to Orient Point for a ferry ride over to Rhode Island. He was embarking on a Boy Scout camp trip for a week. He is the greatest kid.  Tommy and he were best friends. After we put him on the boat we stopped in Greenport. There they have carousal where you can actually catch the brass ring. It is so impressive and the town itself is beautiful. Flowers everywhere.

We also stopped at a farm stand that was so outstanding. We bought so many things. Much more that we could ever eat. I could not get over the size of the vegetables and fruits that were grown. They were gigantic.

 

Throgs Neck Bridge

Sunday early evening we all piled in the car and headed to Cindy’s summer house Upstate. It is in Margaretville, NY. 3 hours north. Great town. We spent the night and explored the area the next day. We stopped at Woodstock on the way home. Woodstock, come to find out, was not the place all the music was. The actual Woodstock Music Festival was 30 miles south of the town. Apparently there were problems getting permits to house all the people, so it was moved. We saw hippies still living their lives of peace and tranquility while there and it was a fun filled day.

Cindy's Summer cabin

Monday, back on Long Island I went back into West Babylon, drove by my old house and went to Tanner Park that evening. Tanner Park is a beach in Copiague that has free music every night. It was a beautiful evening and I had THE best time spending it with special people that I cannot express how thankful I am that I became friends with again.

Cindy's view

in Woodstock, NY

No cork opener

Margretville, NY

Tuesday, Emily, my niece, woke me up early. I promised to take her into the city. Just her and I. She was ready to go! We hopped on the Long Island Rail Road and disembarked in Penn Station. We kind of had a plan but not really. We both wanted to see a Broadway Play. First stop, Times Square, TKTS. TKTS is where you can buy same day play tickets at a 20-50% discount. They are the seats that did not sell. Unfortunately, it did not open until 2pm and on Tuesdays, there are no matinees. The earliest play would have been at 7 pm.We gave up that idea and will try next time I am in town.

local hippie

We next headed to Rockefeller Plaza and walked and walked and walked. Eventually we jumped on a subway and headed down to Ground Zero. We took the wrong train and ended up in Brooklyn. LOL. It was pretty funny! Finally we found downtown and walked and walked and walked some more.

Heres the sad part; One day, on a beautiful, clear, Tuesday morning, on September 11, 2001 the world changed. The United States changed. New York changed. I changed. 19 terrorists from an Islamist extremist group Al Qaeda hijacked 4 US commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing them into the WTC. Another into the Pentagon, and a final one on the way to the White House, was diverted by passengers determined not to let catastrophe happen to their county, giving up the ultimate sacrifice. Their lives. It crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania.

There were a total of 2977 people from 90 different nations killed that day. The oldest was 85, the youngest was 2. Over 400 responders, firemen, policemen, doctors, nurses, citizens, innocent people also were amongst the dead that day. For me…I was in Florida, at work, watching it all happen live on TV. I cannot express the feeling of dread and sorrow I felt that day. I left work after the second tower was hit and ran to the schools to pick up my children. Parents were crying in the parking lots. I headed home, put on the news and was glued to the TV for the next 3 days. I would not let my children out of my site. It was the most profound thing that has ever affected me and I, along with millions and millions of other people will NEVER FORGET!!!

Times Square

The 911 Memorial is bone chilling. Beautifully done, well organized and thousands and thousands of people pass through it each day. You have to obtain a pass to enter. The passes are timed to control the crowds. Freedom tower is in its final stages and it is undeniably beautiful. It is a very sad, solemn place. Even if you are not a NY’er, you can’t help but feel the loss. It was, for me, comparable to Pearl Harbor. I knew no one personally who gave their lives that day, but it overwhelms you with emotion.  There are several people’s names on the wall that I did know, but not personally.  A lot of people did not get off the train coming home that night and it is so incredibly sad.

typical day in the park

Freedom Tower

Rockefeller Center

The most impressive thing about the memorial, for me, was the fact that they mentioned the 6 names of the victims from the attack in February 26, 1993. They too, were sacrificed by terrorism. But unless you’re from NY, you probably didn’t know that. 1993 was the first terrorist attack we had.  There are just fewer than 3000 names of the victims inscribed in bronze around the perimeters of the 2 pools. The pools are beautiful.

There is also a ‘survivor’ tree located at the site. The story behind this tree is remarkable. It goes something like this; it is a Callery Pear Tree. It was planted originally in the 70’s at the plaza of the trade centers and stood on the eastern end of the site, near Church Street. After the collapse of the buildings some workers found the tree. Although damaged, they the dug it out of the ground. They cut it down to 8 feet tall and it was nursed back to health by NY City Park personnel. It grew to be 30 feet tall and flowered every spring thereafter. Then in March of 2010, the tree was once again uprooted. This time by severe storms. Once again, being treated by the city and nursing it back to health it was replanted, and now stands at the WTC site. It is located just west of the south pool and is supported by wires until it takes root. Just another sign of survival and how strong we all can be when need be.

It was a long, emotional day for Emily and me.  We also visited China town, Little Italy, and way too many other places to mention. Emily and I had a great day overall and we both fell asleep on the train ride home. That night I went back into West Babylon to catch up with Kathie. I cannot believe her baby girl is not a baby anymore. I returned home to Cindy’s house around 2 am but it was such a great, great night. One I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life!I am so very lucky to have such great people in my life and realize it every single day!

roach coach

Wednesday my sister and I ran around in the morning and once again by 7pm I was back in Babylon. I couldn’t stay away. I went into town and had my palm read. It was too much fun. Then ended up at Pizza Town. A locally owned and run pizza place that should probably be a National landmark. We totally pigged out on NY pizza, meatballs, zeppole’s and lots and lots of laughs. Nunzio, the owner, sat with us a while and told us jokes that were not so funny, but he cracked himself up, so we couldn’t help but laugh at them. It was a great time.

North Pool

South Pool

After pizza we headed to Tooker Avenue, my Elementary school. There is a field, more or less 2 football fields wide, between my school and Forrest Avenue Elementary. We shared the field with Forrest Avenue for sports. In the center of this field is a HUGE oak tree. It was the dividing line between the 2 rivals. We, at Tooker though we were GREAT (which we were, and still are). Those poor children at Forrest Avenue had the misconception of thinking they were better.  They, obviously, were wrong!

Diane and I

Judy and I

Nunzio

This Oak tree had a lot of meaning because we would meet there and have acorns fights. Neither school was permitted to pass over the tree line so it was a landmark in which we all headed for constantly. That Wednesday night while walking out to the tree for nostalgic reasons there was a bench on the Forrest Avenue side. We commandeered it! We picked it up and moved it.  It now sits on the Tooker Avenue side and we couldn’t be more proud. LOL. I hated to leave. Again, I wasn't back to Cindy's house until 2-3 am. Crazy!

Empire State Bldg

Erika, Kathie's baby

Thursday was the day to return to reality. Florida. I slept in and headed to LGA around 1pm. My flight wasn’t until 4:30 and it became delayed. While on the tarmac waiting for clearance to take off I became overwhelmed with emotion. I cried like a school girl. I did not want to leave. For 6 days I was Sharyn Kane all over again. It was awesome! No responsibilities, just fun, fun, fun…with great people, great food, old time memories and it was so hard for me to tuck it away again.

But as I often say, No one has a better life than me…I am looking forward to my moms wedding in Charlotte next week and then off to Alaska for 27 days in September. Thanks for reading and I hope you appreciate how much I LOVE NY!!!

LongIsland beach

Tooker Ave Tree

My dad