My Mom always says that one of her greatest joys is spending time with her adult children. I get it, and agree. This girl. Well, this woman. All growned up and nearly 28 years old. I got to take the ride, albeit 4 hours, into the heart of Brooklyn to Crown Heights and enjoy a hang, some dinner, and to tackle a few handyman type projects around her apartment.
For dinner we hit a place called Muse Thai where I went legit from the beer, called Singha, to a Massaman Roll appetizer, to a Crispy Pork Belly over Jasmine Rice main dish. The food was great but the company better.
I don't usually get one on one time but it was overdue and something we have to make more of a priority. Daughters need their dads, and dads need their daughters. And what's funny is there doesn't need to be an agenda, just being in the same space works for me.
We also hit a Home Depot which was about 4 miles away the way the bird flies but about a 45 minute drive. We picked up some things like blinds and a shelf kit which I expertly, I don't know how, mounted into the masonry walls in her kitchen. My project completion rate usually hovers around 80%
hovers around 80% but this came in at 100%. I was so confident I actually pulled down on it and it surprisingly held tight. This morning we walked in the rain through the transitional neighborhood she now calls home. As we walked to a bagel place each building was in a different state of a homeness with a diverse mix of residents. There were people on the way, some on the way down, and some who seem to be stuck. When you drive or walk around, some things, like young white women, just seem out of place in places like Bed-Sty, Bushwick, and sections of Crown Heights. Most are there because they have been priced out of Manhattan or the neighborhoods of Brooklyn along the East River.
Years ago when I was in the business I would meet FDNY firefighters protecting these rough and tumble neighborhoods, which now they couldn't afford to live in and have a cafe or latte place on every other corner. I give her props, and the others doing what they have to do these days to survive. I just don't know how they will ever establish roots, like a buying a house, when so much of their income goes towards rent. While I wish she lived around the corner I am proud of what she has become and how she keeps on truckin' in this thing called life.
