You can go home again despite what Thomas Wolfe wrote.
I know because I did it this weekend.
In 2000 I received an unexpected invitation. My response to it evolved into a trip down the memory lane of my life in Hell's Kitchen and resulted in a manuscript dotted with recipes. An unusual combination, but a link to the life, the love, and yes, sometimes pain of my yesterdays.
Find out what's happening in Massapequafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Recently, I have been afforded the opportunity of publishing this manuscript via today's technology, and so this weekend, I made the final adjustments. My book will appear on Amazon later this week.
Consequently, for several days I went back in time, to my years in Hell's Kitchen. It wasn't completely easy. Some things are still difficult to understand, but the abundance of love and joy and laughter I knew there made the trip totally worthwhile.
Find out what's happening in Massapequafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Then as I searched for an appropriate cover for "A Trail of Love and Breadcrumbs," I found a photograph of the four cousins who shared that time in my life. All four were older than I and became role models in many ways. Mostly, because they taught me something I have never done easily. They taught me to laugh.
The photo is the only one of the four of them together in existence and perfect for the cover of my book. The quartet is standing together on Tar Beach, a rooftop on 58th Street. Two are in uniform. The third brother had a medical disability and stands beside his sister. The picture represents so many other young people of that era taken before they left home only to discover the horrors of war.
Some would return, but were never quite the same. Others remained buried in far off lands. Those who came home quickly left the streets of their beloved city and found haven in quiet suburban villages. Three of the young people shown in the photograph are gone now. The youngest brother survives and has been a source of wisdom, comfort and yes, humor, since my husband died.
So, yes, you can go home again. You can't stay long, and some of the poignant memories will cause a tear or two, but try it. Life and those who shared it with us are worth remembering. I learned that this weekend.
