18 March to 3 April

I returned to NYC, after nearly a year of travel. Although the impetus had been to seek advice for a foot issue, I welcomed the opportunity to see the people I hold dear. Spending time with them was joyful as were visits to best-loved places and taking my favorite strolls.

I sought a place to stay near Prospect Park and although pickings were slim I did, after some time, find an aparatment on Eastern Parkway, steps from the park, across from The Brooklyn Library and Museum. It was at most a fifteen minute walk from where I had last lived, in Park Slope.

Yet, my own memories did not nudge me as much as the thoughts of my parents. My mom, although born in Manhattan had grown up in Brooklyn and as a young adult lived with her siblings on Eastern Parkway, not far from where I was staying. And it was here that my father came to court her, having been born and living himself not far away in Brownsville.

Brooklyn was where both my parents lived for decades, where I was born and began my schooling. While we lived walking distance from Coney Island, I was being introduced to the many wonders that I continue to cherish today.

For now, where I live is where I sleep. But when people ask me where I am from, I always say New York, however Brooklyn wilI always mean home to me.