My first trip to New York City. I am 10, 11 years old. My parents put me on the train by myself … and a couple hours later I strolled, dazed, into Penn Station. This was an era when you did not want to be in Penn Station, even in the daytime, even as an adult. I am amazed at my parents for doing this. It’s a very Gen X moment. It was a blast, though! I loved being on my own. Having the train pull away was a wild adventure! Being by myself! Having to know when to get off the train, figure out the bathrooms, the whole thing, was very exciting at age 10.
I stayed with my aunt Regina. Regina is one of the primary inspirations and influences in my life. She is an actress and a singer, and so many of the O’Malley kids in my generation who became artists – musicians, actors, singers – say “well, Regina was doing it, so we could do it too.” In my family being an actor was not some weird “bohemian” off-the-map thing to do. I spent my childhood going to see her – and her friends – in shows. We all did. Choosing to be an actor seemed risky of course but it also just seemed like a job you could actually have. It made a big difference in outlook.
My aunt Regina was probably 23 or 24 when I visited her. At the time she seemed so GROWN UP. I think of myself at 23, and, yeah, there wasn’t a lot of grown-up-ness going on. She did such a great job though! She took me to the Metropolitan Museum, we walked around the Village (I think she lived in the Village, I’d have to ask her), there I am standing in front of the famed “Cobble Court house” in Greenwich Village – which is still there! – and, most importantly, she bought tickets to Annie, which was – as Anne of Green Gables would say – an “epoch” in my life.
Because of when I grew up, I don’t have a bazillion pictures of every event in my childhood. The pictures I have are the pictures that exist. These are the pictures I have of this important trip, when I stepped out by myself. And my aunt Regina was there to capture it, to show me around, to keep me safe, to show me the world.
Anyone who guesses the title reference gets a prize. Well, no, not really. No prize.
Oh, Sheila, I just love this post, these pictures, your absolutely adorable self and the way you capture the sense of excitement and freedom when you are young and given the opportunity to be truly independent. Although we lived all over the world because my dad was in the Navy, by the time I was eight we had settled into a Spielbergesque suburb of Seattle and life became about the places I could reach by bicycle: the park and my friends’ houses and my school. But then we moved to Long Beach California for a year while my dad served as a judge in a series of court-martials, and I found my eighth grade self only blocks from Belmont Shores’ Second Street, full of little shops and people and unique things to see and do and eat. The sense of joy I had, the joy of wearing corduroy shorts and orange striped crewneck sweaters in the sunshine, the joy of independence and freedom, lifted me in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. I felt myself! I felt contained in myself, a pilot of my own vessel. Every Saturday morning with a dollar in my pocket I headed for Second Street with my parents’ blessing and found psychedelicblacklight posters, incense, art supplies, and bagels. It’s a magnificent, deeply important feeling when you’re a young person, and I wonder to what extent young people these days have that opportunity. Perhaps they have a different way of experiencing it – I hope so because I think it’s fundamental to being both independent and connected to a broader idea of what community is. Thank you for evoking that spirit, Sheila!
I believe you are quoting Daddy Warbucks, aren’t you? I must ask, who played Annie when you saw the show? And I am crazy in love with your aunt :-)
Love you, XOXO Stevie
Stevie – the details in your memory!! the corduroy shorts and crewneck! and Long Beach! where Alex lives! so I can kinda sorta picture what you’re talking about.
You really do capture the importance of those moments of freedom – it’s so important for kids. I know my siblings do try to encourage that in their kids. They all have bikes. They are all outside for hours on end with their friends. So this is very good news!
Being able to explore and assert yourself – also to overcome whatever you might be feeling – shyness or fear – it’s all a very good thing!
Oh and I saw Sarah Jessica Parker as Annie. !!!
I lived on Staten Island for a year when I was two, but the first time I went to NYC as a sentient being I was about 18 and went with my roommate. We stayed at the Y (I think) and saw a horror movie in Times Square (does that make sense? This was about 1966). We went to the Village and on Christopher Street there was this sign that the Fugs (who?) were playing that night, and on a whim we went. There was a weirdo in the lobby with hair all over his face. The performance was fantastic. They were crap musicians but that wasn’t the point. They sang a Blake poem, and Slum Goddess, and Wet Dreams Over You, and Boobs A Lot. The weirdo in the lobby was Tuli Kupferberg, and in just a couple of years everybody looked like him. I haven’t spent much time there, but I will always love New York.
Jincy – that sounds like the best 1960s trip to NYC ever!! “They sang a Blake poem” – Boobs a Lot. oh my God. who are these people!! How cool!
and yeah you used to be able to see movies in Times Square. I am just sorry I never was able to – what did you see, do you remember?
Not sure but I think it was Nightmare Castle. It was black and white and starred Barbara Steele. Why do I remember that?
hahahaha I love this.