While
visiting my sister, we took a quick tour of a couple of sites in downtown
Philadelphia and New York City; sites that we had not seen in previous trips
because we were either rushing through the day and did not have time or we were
too tired to see one more site. So this
time we made a special trip to visit Independence Hall in downtown Philadelphia
and the World Trade Center Memorial in downtown New York City. Of course, visiting tourist sites was not the
purpose of this trip. I wanted to come
and visit my sister, not because we would have free lodging in Pennsylvania,
but because it is a "family thing" to visit each other once in a
while. Not so much for my sister and I,
we have known each other for over 66 years - but more for Adrian and Peter, the
tail of a long line of 29 cousins and siblings.
Peter was born when my sister was 50 and Adrian was born when I was
55. Except for a couple who are still in
their late teens, just about all of Adrian's and Peter's cousins and siblings
are in their 40s, 30s or in their late 20s.
They even have some second cousins, children of their first cousins, who
are older than they are. So these two
are special in the Family hierarchy - late life surprises, we might say.
Our first
trip was to Independence Hall. We stood
next to the seats where Adams, Franklin, Jefferson and all the other delegates to
the Continental Congress sat in the writing of the Declaration of Independence,
and later the Constitution - a very emotional event to be in the same room where these people worked. Of course, we could not leave Philadelphia without having a cheese steak sandwich!
Of course, we could not leave Philadelphia without having a cheese steak sandwich!
The Trip
to the World Trade Center Memorial was an afternoon treat. We drove to Trenton, N.J. and took the NJ
Transit train to Penn Station in NY City. From there a short Subway ride on the
"E" line to the World Trade Center ride. It started as a partly cloudy day but it
began to rain once we got to the top the new World Trade Center building. The elevator ride, the most unique and
exciting ride up and down the building was worth every penny of the cost - a
must "do" on a trip to NY City!
And of course, there is the need for texting friends from the top of the Word Trade Center.
It's a
pleasure to see the sense of family "closeness" transfer from
generation to generation, and for someone like me hitting seventy, it is a
reminder that family life continues and it gives the feeling that things are in
order in the universe and life as we have known it continues. They laugh, joke and talk about things that
either are irrelevant to one state of life and often makes no sense. The enjoyment is to watch them relate to each
other and develop the bonds that will last a lifetime. Of course, with technology that includes Facetime, Skype and multi-player internet video games where participants are in
constant communication with both audio and video, this age group has a chance
for close communication that we never had when we were young. But, technological communication does not
seem complete. I am convinced that one
still needs the personal contact, nothing can express what one says with our
eyes. To see these two share things with
each other not only with what they say or what they do together, is the way
they look at each other when they say or do that completes the communication
not hiding who they are or what they mean - a pure communication. It is a pleasure to see.
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