Weekend

Saturday was a tough day. Our mother moved out of Mary's place for good because the situation there had just become unbearable for her. We were all sobbing by the time we left - Mary because she was sorry it didn't work out and didn't want Mommy to leave; Mommy because she felt guilty for leaving Mary there; and Sheila and me because it was just all too sad. This time around, though, Sheila will be moving to my father's, temporarily, taking Marty with her. She's leaving on Monday. Daddy's place is only about 20 minutes away, but I'll still miss them both very much. This makes the most sense, though, and it means that I will be able to keep my bedroom and my privacy. Our ultimate living arrangements are contingent up on how other things develop (things that I can't really discuss here), but this current arrangement will most definitely be temporary, no matter how things end up.

So, that was Saturday. Sunday was a much better day. We took the train into New York City with our father and were lucky enough to ride in for free on a pass given to him by a friend. Even though I've been to NYC many times in my life, I have never ridden on a subway, so the ride downtown on the 6 was cool. We had the Nathan Hale Pub, normally closed on Sundays, to ourselves from 1-6. The party was open bar, the food was delish and, God help us, there was karaoke. After telling him that I had not yet been to the site of the WTC attack, our cousin Tommy took a group of about 5 of us around the corner to see it. The homemade memorials still hanging on the back fence of the church were very moving; the street vendors hawking souvenirs 3 feet away were not. I didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked (it was very cold and we did have to get back to the party), but I was so glad I was able to see it.