New York

After September 11, 2001, I had always been curious about New York. I was only in 2^nd grade when the disaster happened, and when I walked into my mom’s bedroom, the TV on and my mom staring at the screen in shock. She told me that New York was under attack, and my young naïve mind thought that New York was in Utah. When my mom finally explained to me about the disaster, I became curious about the event and also the city.

The next year, my mom visited Manhattan, New York with a group of friends. She returned with stories about Broadway, stores, subways, Ground Zero, the restaurants, and, of course, the people of Manhattan. Still very young, the stories made Manhattan seem like a fairy tale land that I could only dream about visiting someday.

As I got older, I gained higher interests in art and music. My mom forced me to learn the piano at age 8, and wouldn’t let me quit until I was 18. Not appreciating it when I was young, I now consider music a very large aspect in my life. Learning that New York was one of the many music industry capitols of the world, my desire to one-day visit was even higher on my goals list. As for art, my brother has always been a huge fan of fashion, and even wears it around himself. He’s one of the best artists I know, and he taught me the different views and emotions from art. From life experience, in a small, isolated city of Utah, New York seemed like a heaven on earth.

This summer, my sister got called on a religious tour to the Philippines. Since she’s leaving in mid- September for 18 months, we decided to go on a grand vacation before she left. Personally, I wanted to somewhere with a beach, somewhere that would live up the cliché of a vacation spot. But, though I argued, the family decided to go to Manhattan, New York. I loved New York, but wasn’t as excited as I had hoped to be. All my life I had dreamed of going to New York for the first time, but in my dreams I was always alone or with only one other person. I love my family and I love escaping from our lives with them, but going to New York seemed like it was heading for a vacation from hell. Because my family is older, no little children, we don’t just follow what mommy says. My brother, being the fashion genius that he is, would want to go to New York for the magazines, the fashion industries, and the colleges. My older sister, who has been at BYU with a major in communications, would want to visit television shows, news shows, and look into future internships. My parents, being good parents, would listen to us and where we wanted to go, which wasn’t always a good thing.

I wanted to go to New York for the feel and for the experience all in all. I wanted to sit in a park and watch the people go by, camera in hand, to capture the city in movement. I wanted to see the sidewalk that John Lennon got shot, just to be there and know what had taken place. I wanted to visit every tourist attraction there is, not to be an annoying tourist, but just to be where so much had happened before..

Being the middle child of two very vocal and very determined siblings, I never really speak up or go in my own direction. I go with the flow and don’t comment or complain about where I’m heading. Luckily, my parents knew of my desires, and we were able to visit many places I wished to see. I got to sit in a small park at watch skateboarders, mothers, businessmen, and a very high man while my siblings shopped and looked around for their own reasons. I got to see Wicked, the Broadway show I had dreamed of seeing since I was young. I got to see and feel the spirit of Ground Zero. Though there wasn’t much left of the disaster and construction of the freedom towers had begun, knowing what had taken place gave me chills and a spirit that I can’t explain. I feel as if the thought of New York, was better than the visit itself. Though this vacation wasn’t all I had hoped would be, I hope to one day return to New York, and experience it for myself and not for my family.