first NYC trip

(This blog tells my family's story. To see more, click "blog" at the top of this webpage.)

​My last day as manager of a local group home, I finished painting a small room and hugged the residents goodbye, with a promise to visit. What a relief to pass on the responsibility and to know I left everything in good order.
 
As I packed for our girls’ trip to New York City, I couldn’t stop smiling.
           
We crowded into Beth’s car for the eight-hour drive, singing along with popular songs on the radio. After a harrowing drive in Manhattan to the hotel, we left the car in a parking garage and explored on foot and by taxi. By our small town standards, every ride in a yellow taxi was wild, an accident waiting to happen. I secretly bought NYC taxi ornaments for the girls for Christmas gifts.
           
In Central Park, Maria and Ellen lifted Beth into a covered carriage pulled by horses for a ride in the rain. I worried about leaving her wheelchair behind, but it was there when we returned. We enjoyed a ritzy restaurant afterward, the four of us sharing two meals to make it affordable. For dessert, we walked/wheeled to Serendipity, a cafe popularized by a movie of the same name. The steps at the entrance were surmountable, but sadly, we didn’t have enough time to wait for a table before our show.
           
Our first Broadway play, Wicked, with the original cast, drew us in with exquisite detail in the songs, sets, costumes, and story. Unlike anything we had ever seen before. Wowed, we left the theatre with a ‘Popular’ shirt for Maria and one for Beth with her new motto, ‘Defying Gravity.’
 
On the drive home to Ohio, we sang Wicked songs along with a CD of Indina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, belting out my favorite lyric.
 
“Everyone deserves a chance to fly!”