Had the most amazing chat Friday with an 89 -year-old woman on a park bench in front of ShopRite. She was sitting down- sort of hanging on to her cart, taking a rest after telling me she was worn out. I thought she was referring to the insane humidity, but it turns out it was more about the crowd inside the store. I had been rushing around all morning and was feeling rather worn myself. We began talking and I decided to sit beside her for a while. When she told me she lived in NYC during the 1950s, I just couldn’t stop asking her questions about what it was like then. I asked her if she knew who Maeve Brennan was (Wrote a New Yorker Column called “The Long Winded Lady” back then-chronicling vignettes of city life) She did. I then asked if she had ever been to Bickford‘s, Schraffts, The Automat, 21, and many more. She told me about a little speakeasy called Chumley‘s. We then moved onto swing coats, hats, phone exchanges, like Murray Hill ####, white gloves. Then the not-so-nice social issues of the time. She was fascinating and recalled each detail like it was yesterday. Good things happen when you just slow down sometimes. 😊💗 wow.
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