09/11/2026
In honor of 9/11...I wrote this after a whirlwind visit to NYC. Please enjoy One Year Later;
The subtle onslaught of winter in the crisp autumn air had me realizing the fact that I was in desperate need of some creative stimulation before I entered into another winter. I was in need of a revival; for my spirit, for my mental well being, for renewed faith in humankind. I needed a change of venue, I needed a vacation…I needed NYC.
So, being the creature of spontaneity that I’ve been known to be, I decided Friday night to make up my mind, make reservations, and make my way to sink my teeth into The Big Apple. By Saturday morning, I was experiencing sensations I never knew existed. The fluid in my veins vibrated at a level above anything I had ever experienced. I laughed with the giddiness of a child receiving a gift they only dreamt about while looking at magazines. I intently listened as I soaked in the sounds; the whirling and burling of a city alive with the living. I reveled in the lights that walked the streets representing every facet of the world, and I tried to keep time with Time Square, but I had nowhere near enough minutes.
I witnessed a city that rose above the darkest of days, and I was amazed with the capacity of its citizens to embrace the very strangers that threatened their zeal. I never felt fear, and it appeared that they had healed, and it was revealed to me that this was the place for me to heal my own heavy heart. This was the start.
I wept tears of joy for being fortunate enough to experience the city that, just one year prior, bled a blood so thick that it paved its many streets with love not hate, with fellowship...with faith. I knew then that I had come to erase my own misgivings, to process my own grief, to search out my own sense of understanding. I had to come to share my own tears of blood for those that loved and lost.
In the course of all this, I was feeding my creative hunger with the juices that flow from the city that showed me that we are able to rise above anything, in love. I felt it, smelled it, and it melted my heart.
I left a part of my soul in New York City, but what I brought home with me will carry me through many Michigan winters, and will fill countless of empty pages, with words as succulent as the flavor of The Big Apple, one year later🍎❤️.
