Attending SC Congress and returning to roots

I am up in NY this week attending the 2nd annual SC Congress.  This second iteration of the show is much better I am sure in large part because of lessons learned from last years event.  Instead of being in the cavernous Javits Center this years event is in the Sheraton Towers Hotel. It has a much warmer and sharper feel.  The event is also better attended.  Most of all the people at the show are not wearing the usual blue jeans and t-shirts. This is a NY show and the people are dressed for business. Most people are in sports jackets or suits.  The Haymarket/SC Magazine crew have put a ton of time and effort into this years show and it has paid off.  I will write more about the show at a later date, but I actually wanted to write about something else today.

Coming home to NY is coming home for me. You can take the boy out of NY, but you can never take NY out of the boy. Walking from my hotel to the show, virtually every street I go down recalls a different memory. Today walking back before dinner I passed a store front on 57th street that looked familiar. I stopped and looked hard and it came rushing back. It was now a French restaurant but that didn’t fool me.  Twenty-four or so years ago this was called the NY Deli. It wasn’t one of the best delis in town, but it had a special memory.  On our second date I had taken Bonnie out in NYC (she lived in Staten Island, so with me driving from Long Island it was easy to hop into the city) after a night of partying (we really did party back then) I took her into the NY Deli for a late night snack before driving her home to Staten Island.  Looking into the window at the table we sat at I remembered what it was like those many years ago.  How exhilarating it was to be falling in love, how life seemed so endless and boundless.  So much living has gone on since that night all those years ago.  Mostly good, but some not. Dreams come true and others given up. Can it really be that long?   Spending a few moments in front of that window my life flashed before me. As someone once said life is a journey, not a destination, but for me the destination of NY holds so many of the way stations in my own personal journey. It is good to be home.