There's No Place Like Home

On December 8, 2012, I packed up my apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and moved back to my hometown of Bay Shore. There's no place like home, as the iconic saying goes. I didn't have a pair of ruby red slippers, but I did have my mother's old red Ford. Cruising along the Belt Parkway, I left behind 35 years of memories as I headed east. You can go home again, but my love affair with New York City endures.

On that same date in 1980, a shot rang out around the world as John Lennon lost his life on a Manhattan street in front of The Dakota. Only today I realized that the dates were the same. How serendipitous that John Lennon, who still plays a major role in my life, would share a significant date with me. The outspoken foreigner who embraced New York City as though he was born there. Growing up on Long Island, I felt the same way. My brother bought me the Double Fantasy album that Christmas. It was the only gift I wanted.  The memories of my life in the Big Apple will never leave me, nor will the impact that John Lennon made on my life all those years ago. Imagine.

“John was a brilliant man with a great sense of humor and understanding. He believed in being truthful and that the power of the people will change the world." - Yoko Ono Lennon